A recent survey conducted by Medianet, a leading Australian media company, has shed light on the concerns of journalists regarding the impact of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) on their profession.

The survey, titled 'Media Landscape Report', polled over 800 Australian journalists, revealing a significant level of apprehension about the potential effects of AI on the quality and integrity of journalism.

According to the survey, 79% of respondents expressed concern about the potential impact of generative AI on the quality of journalism. Interestingly, 74% of the journalists surveyed had not personally used generative AI in their work, and 19% were unaware of how AI is being used in their newsrooms.

"The introduction of generative AI has sparked concerns among journalists, but it's essential to bridge the gap between concerns and real-world impact," said Medianet's Managing Director, Amrita Sidhu.

The survey also revealed 67% of respondents believe generative AI could potentially replace aspects of their jobs. A further 12% of respondents claimed to know someone who has lost work or lost work themselves due to the uptake of generative AI.

"While the figure is quite small, it is concerning that some journalists had already lost work despite the relatively low uptake of AI in the media so far," Sidhu noted.

From the 25% of respondents that claimed to have used generative AI in their journalism work, those working in podcasting had by far the highest update of AI/large language models (LLMs) professionally (38%). Age hasn't been a large determinant of use either - while three in 10 AI users were under 23 years of age, a similar percentage had also used it across other age brackets except for 60-69 (15%) and 70-79 (6%).

The Media Landscape Report also highlighted gender pay gaps in the media industry, with 67% of respondents feeling underpaid. The use of Twitter among journalists dropped in 2023, with the platform falling from the second to the fourth most-used social media platform.

A total of 80% of journalists stated their primary motivation is to inform the public accurately and fairly. The survey was conducted between September and October 2023 and received 844 responses. Respondents included journalists working in digital journalism, print, radio, TV, and podcasting.

"This comprehensive report underscores the industry's commitment to principled reporting, the need for public understanding, and the continued importance of accurate and impartial journalism," Sidhu added.

The report also covered journalists' perceptions of their profession, employment and challenges, public interest journalism and defamation, and diversity and inclusion in media organisations.

Social media usage was another focus. In a year where the platform formerly known as Twitter received significant publicity following the company's acquisition by Elon Musk and subsequent rebrand to X, there was a significant drop in professional Twitter/X usage in 2023. The platform dropped from being the second most used social media platform for journalists in 2022 to being the fourth most-used platform, after Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn (58% versus 69% in 2022).