Clickout Media has extended its use of AI-generated reporters from video game sites to sports news, flooding three previously reputable football websites with error-ridden content. She Kicks, Football Blog and Sportscasting - all under the company's ownership - are now publishing articles written by artificial intelligence that contain systematic factual mistakes, according to Press Gazette analysis.
The errors are not one-off glitches quickly corrected after public backlash. They represent what appears to be a deliberate, shameless strategy of replacing human journalists with automated content regardless of quality. An AI-generated article on Football Blog recently demonstrated the problem, with mistakes that would be laughable if the implications for sports journalism were not so serious.
Google Discover shifts away from professional publishers
New audience data for the UK's 75 biggest local newsbrands shows the impact of Google Discover's algorithm changes. The platform has moved away from favoring professional publisher content, and the numbers reflect that shift. Only 16 of the 75 sites grew their audience year-on-year in April, while just 15 increased minutes spent with their content.
Three Reach-owned titles - Leicestershire Live, Leeds Live and Surrey Live - were among the worst hit. Despite the declines, Reach chief content officer David Higgerson pointed out that the publisher has retained much of its local audience, with non-local visitors falling off through the platforms. "In today's world where loyal readers mean more than ever, that means the picture isn't as bad as it looks just from the raw numbers," he said.
Newsquest has held up better, having emphasized local content and used AI-assisted reporters to free up time for core topics. The contrast between AI-assisted reporting that supports human journalists and fully automated AI reporters that replace them is stark.
The Lever bets on slow journalism under Trump Two
US investigative outlet The Lever has grown its team while reducing its story output. The publication is deliberately choosing quality over quantity - a calculation that is appearing more frequently as publishers abandon years of chasing clicks and scale. It marks a distinct change from the last Trump administration, when many outlets reported every statement the president made.
Fewer newsrooms now appear to be covering every utterance from the White House. Instead, they are focusing on what actually affects their audiences' lives. The Lever's approach reflects a broader shift toward impact-driven journalism over volume.
News in brief
- DMG Media has rebranded to Daily Mail with Vere Harmsworth as executive chairman, moving Metro into Harmsworth Media.
- Penske Media has acquired The Verge, Eater, Popsugar, SB Nation and The Dodo after James Murdoch bought other Vox Media properties.
- LBG Media is buying social-first creative agency Uncovered Holdings for an initial £26.8m, with up to £7m more depending on 2026 and 2027 performance.
- An Al Jazeera cameraman was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza on Saturday. The news organization said his death "reflects a continued systematic policy of targeting journalists and silencing the voice of truth."
- The Australian government has delayed its News Bargaining Incentive bill, which would force platforms to strike deals with news publishers or pay a levy.
- Reuters has appointed head of AI strategy Jane Barrett as head of product as it works toward becoming "the world's leading AI-powered news organization."
- The Atlantic has expanded its video team from around ten to nearly 20 people, and podcast revenue has grown 104% year-on-year.
- Bauer Media's publishing UK co-CEOs Helen Morris and Steve Prentice are stepping down. Amrit Baidwan becomes the new CEO of UK publishing.
- Thousands of Czechs rallied in Prague against a government plan to overhaul public broadcaster funding, which critics consider a threat to independence.
Why this matters for writers
The Clickout Media case is a warning about what happens when editorial oversight is stripped away in favor of automation. For writers and journalists, the errors in AI-generated sports coverage - systematic, uncorrected, and apparently accepted by ownership - demonstrate that the technology is not yet a replacement for human reporting. It is a tool that requires supervision. Publishers who treat it otherwise risk their credibility.
The divergence between Newsquest's AI-assisted approach and Clickout's fully automated model shows two paths. One uses AI to support journalists doing real reporting. The other uses it to replace them. For writers building careers, understanding this distinction matters. The Lever's success with slow, investigative journalism also suggests that in an era of AI-generated noise, deep reporting and verified facts become more valuable, not less. Writers who want to explore how AI can support - rather than undermine - quality content creation can find relevant training through AI for Writers Courses and structured guidance in the AI Learning Path for Bloggers.
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