Journalists abandoning X, anxious about AI: Medianet report
The majority of Australian journalists no longer use social media platform X (Twitter), according to Medianet’s 2025 Media Landscape Report.
Media monitoring and intelligence company Medianet surveyed 521 working journalists for the 2025 study. It found that in the past year 15% deleted or quit their X accounts and 40% no longer use X as much. The changes leave just 48% of journalists using the platform that was once – as Twitter – an essential vehicle for breaking news and political statements.
The report also found that the overwhelming majority of respondents understood that trust in media was falling – lining up with Edelman data just released – and that most neither used nor welcomed AI in their workplace.
Medianet MD Amrita Sidhu
Medianet managing director Amrita Sidhu said this attitude around AI was personally the most surprising thing for her in the report. Only 63% had personally used AI tools, yet 88% were worried about their negative effects.
“OK so you’re worried about something but you haven’t actually used it?” she said. “You can’t know the impact of something until you actually use it or adopt it or experiment with it.”
The migration of journalists away from X was also a notable feature in the data, with some (15%) apparently taking up alternate social platform Bluesky.
“There has been a real kind of abandonment of Twitter/X over the last two years,” Sidhu said. “What’s interesting is that they have found another home and that appears to be Bluesky and you know in just one year for 20% of respondents to be using it: that’s where journos have gone based on the data.”
While X has waned as a news source, Facebook is still a major source of stories.
“You’ve got 70% of journalists using social media as a story source,” Sidhu said. “And yet a lot of them – 67% – believe that social media as a news source negatively impacts the media. That’s a real dichotomy.”
A big majority of the survey’s respondents also supplied data about their pay packets, revealing that those working in TV are paid better than colleagues in print, digital and radio.
The graphic below shows the percentage of respondents who make over $100k a year.
Salary of more than $100k (Medianet)
The report found that salaries haven’t shifted, and 67% of respondents believe they are underpaid.
Over 90% of respondents indicated through open answers they believed trust in media was falling. This lines up with Edelman Trust Barometer data that showed Australians had high levels of mistrust of journalists and media. Media was also rated the lowest of four institutions on ethics and competence, under government.
“The media industry, while continuing to be very important to the Australian public, is facing some fundamental challenges,” Sidhu said. “Those challenges have shifted: there is now misinformation and disinformation, trust and adapting to AI.”
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