Ahead of the 14th SoMo Borac, the regional competition for the best digital projects, which will take place on 23 October and has been co-organised for the fourth consecutive year by the Croatian Digital Publishers Association (HUDI), we are opening a question that concerns almost every newsroom today: what does artificial intelligence mean for the media and their relationship with audiences?
The column is written by Mirela Hegediš Horvat, Director of tportal and Digital Services at Hrvatski Telekom, a HUDI member. She also chairs the media jury of this year’s SoMo Borac, while its Croatian representatives come from HUDI member companies.
AI and tportal: technology can speed up content, but trust remains our most important capital
AI is changing the way media content is created, distributed and consumed. For newsrooms, it brings a major opportunity: it can speed up routine processes, assist with data analysis, adapt content for different platforms and make it possible for one high-quality story to generate multiple relevant formats, from an article and newsletter to a short video and a social media post.
But artificial intelligence is also changing audience expectations. If almost anyone can produce text, an image or a video that looks convincing, the question is no longer only how to produce content. The key question becomes: whom can we trust?
The change has already begun
According to the latest Digital News Report by the Reuters Institute for 2026, ten percent of respondents use AI chatbots for news every week, while among the youngest group that share is 17 percent. Although only one percent of respondents name AI as their main source of news, the trend is clear: audiences increasingly do not seek only information, but expect artificial intelligence to explain it, summarise it, compare it and tailor it to them.
For publishers, this raises a serious question about distribution. Across the 27 markets surveyed, only four percent of respondents say they often click through to the original article after receiving information via an AI chatbot. With search engines, that share is 19 percent, and with social media 17 percent.
In other words, AI is not only changing the way newsrooms produce content. It is also changing the path audiences take to reach that content, and with it the foundations of the existing digital business model.
On the other hand, The Guardian published its own approach to generative artificial intelligence this year. It introduced mandatory training for employees, is developing internal tools for describing photographs, searching archives and transcribing audio, and emphasises the obligation of transparency when AI plays a significant role in the creation of content.
That is an important message. Successful transformation is not only a matter of new tools, but also of clear rules, competencies, editorial oversight and a thoughtful relationship with audiences.
“Measure of What Matters” in a time of information overload
Since its launch, tportal has built its identity on trust. It is not an addition to our product, but its foundation. It is summed up in our slogan “Measure of What Matters”, but also in the way we understand editorial work.
In a time of information overload, being a measure of what matters means helping audiences distinguish what is relevant from what is merely loud, viral or rewarded by algorithms.
That is why tportal has publicly available guiding principles. They are not a formality or decoration on the “About Us” page. They are the framework by which we make editorial decisions and remain accountable to our audience. At a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic content from artificially generated content, such transparency becomes even more important.
In the Reuters survey, tportal is confirmed as one of the Croatian media outlets trusted by audiences. That trust was not created by one campaign, one technology or one format. It was built over years, through quality, fact-checking, responsible reporting and our relationship with audiences.
AI therefore does not change our fundamental direction. It changes the way we reach that goal.
It is not easy, especially for journalists
It is important to be realistic: this change is not simple, especially for journalists.
Today, they are expected to be faster, understand more platforms, think visually, record and edit video, follow data, understand SEO and at the same time maintain the highest professional standards. Now they are also expected to understand how to use artificial intelligence, how to recognise its errors and how to assess where useful assistance ends and a risk to credibility begins.
This can create pressure, uncertainty and a feeling that the rules of the profession are changing faster than they can be adopted.
That is why transformation cannot be reduced to introducing new technological tools. It requires systematic investment in competence development, continuous education, clear editorial and ethical guidelines, as well as support and conditions in which journalists can develop new skills while preserving what forms the foundation of quality journalism, professional curiosity, critical judgement and responsibility towards the audience.
This is also confirmed by the conclusions of this year’s World News Media Congress organised by WAN-IFRA: in AI transformation, the largest part of the change is not about the algorithms themselves, but about the people and processes within an organisation.
Because the fundamental mission of journalism has not changed. It has only been reimagined for a new era.
It is still about finding facts, verifying them, giving them context and explaining them to people. It is still about asking questions that others do not want or do not know how to ask. It is still about being a reliable point of reference in society.
tportal’s advantage lies in the combination
Tportal is part of Hrvatski Telekom, which gives us a distinct position. We have the opportunity to connect editorial and media experience with the technological knowledge, infrastructure and expertise of a large system, while at the same time maintaining clear responsibility towards our audience and our own editorial standards.
It is precisely in that combination that I see a major advantage: technology can help us become more efficient and relevant, but it does not determine what is important to publish or how we report on it.
We cannot view AI projects in isolation from editorial work, user experience,
data, advertising and distribution. Their value emerges only when they are connected with
the concrete needs of audiences and a clear editorial objective.
This means that for us, AI is not only a question of automation. It is a question of how to better understand our audience, how to offer them more relevant content and how to build a long-term, direct relationship with them.
Trust cannot be automated
Artificial intelligence democratises content production, but it cannot automate trust.
Trust is built consistently, through the way we verify information, acknowledge mistakes, explain context and treat our audience. That is why, in the AI era, the greatest value will belong to media outlets that clearly know who they are, why they exist and which principles guide their work.
Tportal built its identity before artificial intelligence. In the new technological cycle, we do not need to reinvent it. We need to reaffirm it, using new tools while preserving the fundamental mission of journalism and being a portal that audiences return to when they want to understand what matters.
Because in a world in which there will be more and more content, “Measure of What Matters” will not be just a slogan.
It will be our greatest responsibility and our greatest advantage.
Sources: Reuters Institute – Digital News Report 2026, Reuters Institute – AI chatbots and news, The Guardian – How the Guardian is using GenAI and WAN-IFRA – World News Media Congress 2026.
