When Media Collide: AI, Influence & News

By Elke Porter | WBN News Global | July 23, 2025
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In today’s media landscape, the line between traditional journalism, social media influence, and AI-generated content is blurring into near invisibility. Once upon a time, legacy outlets—newspapers, radio, and television—held a monopoly on information. Today, a TikTok video from a bedroom can eclipse the reach of a prime-time news segment. Somewhere in the noise, the truth competes with clicks, and credibility has become a crowd-sourced concept.

Businesses, once comfortable buying a print ad or booking a local TV spot, now find themselves in uncharted territory. Should they hire an Instagram micro-influencer or trust an AI bot to generate SEO-rich blog posts? Do they chase the trending hashtags or try to spark a viral moment of their own? The answers are as scattered as the platforms themselves. The media-savvy business is now a media-producing business—but most are underprepared, underfunded, or overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, legacy media giants—those once gatekeepers of fact—are scrambling to remain relevant. Budget cuts, shrinking audiences, and distrust from the public are daily challenges. Many have leaned into opinion-based coverage or partnered with influencers to regain reach. Yet with every pivot, they risk losing the authority they once commanded.

The public, caught in the middle, is left to navigate a dense forest of voices, each shouting for attention, each claiming truth. AI-generated articles flood feeds. Influencers shape narratives. Journalists compete with algorithms. Trust, once given freely to a few polished anchors, now fractures across hundreds of sources.

Even institutions like the White House have evolved with the times. Donald Trump, never one to play by the rules of legacy media, recently opened the door to new media voices—bloggers, YouTubers, influencers—giving them seats alongside traditional reporters. The press room now mirrors the chaos of the online world: part stage, part spectacle, part strategy.

FIFA, hosting 48 teams for the first time in the 2026 World Cup across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, faces challenges in managing its public narrative. ZeroFox Intelligence reports over 1,200 compromised FIFA email addresses, tied to fifa[.]com and fifa[.]org, being traded on the dark web and Telegram, fueling risks of phishing and misinformation.

Social media platforms like X amplify fan-driven speculation and influencer content, often outpacing official FIFA statements. In this decentralized media landscape, controlling the narrative remains a complex challenge for global events.

And for the small business owner? The media ocean feels impossibly vast. Competing with billion-dollar ad budgets and algorithmic bias, they face the existential question: How do you stand out when everyone is broadcasting?

Here are three things the public can do to take control:

Diversify Information Sources: Seek out primary sources, independent creators, and raw data on platforms like X or directly from public records. Cross-reference narratives to avoid echo chambers and build a fuller picture.
Sharpen Critical Thinking: Question headlines, verify claims, and trace the funding or motives behind what you read or watch. Use tools like fact-checking sites or X’s real-time discussions to spot inconsistencies.
Engage and Create: Share your perspective on platforms like X, start a blog, or join community discussions. Amplify voices that challenge dominant narratives and contribute to a decentralized media ecosystem.

In this strange convergence, the only constant is change. The real question isn’t who controls the media. It’s: Who controls what we believe? As media landscapes shift under the weight of corporate agendas, algorithmic biases, and fragmented narratives, the power to shape our beliefs lies increasingly in our own hands. The challenge is to navigate this chaos with discernment, rejecting passive consumption and reclaiming agency over our worldview.

Connect with Elke at Westcoast German Media or on LinkedIn: Elke Porter or contact her on WhatsApp: +1 604 828 8788. Public Relations. Communications. Education.

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