Let's Talk About: Is AI/ChatGPT to Blame for All These Editorial Layoffs?

I'm spilling all the tea on the state of the media industry in an epically long post

Hello, subscribers.

It’s a new week … and hopefully one with fewer announcements of media industry layoffs. On the heels of my incredibly popular FREE post last week, 6 Things Publicists Should Do/Not Do During All These Devastating Layoffs Across Media, (I’ve had over 15k views and only have 5,800 subscribers!), I wanted to address the monkey in the room.

Every single industry Facebook group discussing these layoffs (from writer groups to PR groups) is asking the same questions:

• Is all of this due to AI and ChatGPT?

• Are robots simply taking over these editorial jobs?

• Are journalism jobs dying?

• What does this mean for the future of PR and journalism?

I have some very specific thoughts on this based on my 24 years of experience in the industry (both on staff at various magazines and as a freelance writer and editor), and I figured now would be a good time to share them. After all, the outcome of this media shakeup will impact your clients and the way you do business not just over the next few weeks and months, but for the foreseeable future. Technology IS changing the way you’ll need to operate if you want to stay successful, but probably not in the way that you’re assuming.

So let’s dive into my assessment of the rise of AI, what’s led to these layoffs, and 5 tips for how best to proceed in your PR efforts in the wake of this industry shakeup so that you’re still killing it for your clients: