As people increasingly rely on AI chatbots for news, the already tenuous bargain between publishers and tech firms—the former invested in journalism that the latter helped audiences discover—is no longer workable. UNESCO’s proposed Guidance on Fair Compensation for News could help create a new value-exchange model.
FRANKFURT—In her 1967 essay “Truth and Politics,” the political philosopher Hannah Arendt observed that “Freedom of opinion is a farce unless factual information is guaranteed and the facts themselves are not in dispute.” The news supplied by trustworthy journalists has long been an indispensable source of that information, without which democratic societies cannot function effectively. But as people increasingly rely on AI chatbots for news, siphoning traffic and profits from outlets often operating on a shoestring budget, good journalism is at risk of disappearing.
