The goal of the working group is to summarize research for an audience of journalism practitioners and researchers around the world. That means we focus on what’s actionable for journalism, not other fields that are concerned with AI.

Recent Research Briefs

• Briefing #1: AI Literacy & Communication | July 2025
• Briefing #2: AI Transcription and Translation in Journalism | November 2025
• Briefing #3: Newsroom Policies for AI in Journalism | February 2026
• Briefing #4: AI Applications in Investigative Journalism | June 2026

Current Working Group Members

Here is a list of current working group members and their affiliations:

• Akintunde Babatunde (April 2025–present)
  Executive Director, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development
• Claudia Báez (September 2025–present)
  Associate Consultant, Fathm
• Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (April 2025–present)
  Senior Research Manager, Center for News, Technology & Innovation
• Madhav Chinnappa (April 2025–present)
  Independent Media Consultant
• Mark Chonofsky (June 2026–present)
  AI Fellow, Chicago Public Media; Fellow, Knight Lab, Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern
• Utsav Gandhi (April 2025–present)
  PhD Student, University of Illinois Chicago
• Gregory Gondwe (May 2026–present)
  Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Technologies, California State University, San Bernardino
• Johannes Klingebiel (July 2026-present)
  Research Manager, Media Lab Bayern
• K.V. Kurmanath (January 2026-present)
  Senior journalist and academic
• Amy Mitchell (April 2025–present)
  Executive Director, Center for News, Technology & Innovation
• Chris Moran (September 2025–present)
  Head of Editorial Innovation, Guardian News & Media
• Sophie Morosoli (April 2025–present)
  Postdoctoral Researcher at the AI, Media & Democracy Lab, University of Amsterdam
• Afrooz Mosallaei (March 2026–present)
  Research Associate, Center for News, Technology & Innovation
• Gary Mundy (April 2025–present)
  Director Research, Policy and Impact, Thomson Foundation
• Oluwapelumi Oginni (April 2025–present)
  Project Manager, AI Initiatives, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development
• Joshua Olufemi (April 2025–present)
  Executive Director, Dataphyte Foundation
• Oluseyi Olufemi (October 2025–present)
  Nigeria Country Director, Dataphyte
• Esteban Ponce de León (September 2025–present)
  Resident Fellow, Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) at the Atlantic Council
• Amy Ross Arguedas (April 2025–present)
  Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
• Zara Schroeder (April 2025–present)
  Researcher, Research ICT Africa
• Felix M. Simon (April 2025–present)
  Research Fellow in AI and News, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism & Research Associate, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
• Sabina Tomkins (May 2026–present)
  Assistant Professor of Information, School of Information and Faculty Associate, Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
• Jaemark Tordecilla (April 2025–present)
  Independent Media Advisor, Philippines

Formerly Active Working Group Members

• Samuel Jens (April 2025–October 2025)
  Research Associate, Center for News, Technology & Innovation
• Scott Timcke (April 2025–April 2026)
  Senior Research Associate, Research ICT Africa

The post CNTI’s Global AI & Journalism Research Working Group appeared first on Center for News, Technology & Innovation.

CNTI provides practical and accessible digital resources that support evidence-based discussions about the conditions shaping an independent press and an open internet around the world.

Updated in April 2026, this resource brings together key demographic, governance, media and technology indicators for 199 countries and markets. Indicators are aggregated from leading international institutions including the World Bank, the V-Dem Institute, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the World Justice Project, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom House, Tortoise and Reporters Without Borders. 

Bringing these indicators together in a single dataset lets users explore factors such as internet access, press freedom, political institutions and media trust and how they intersect across countries.

To accommodate different research approaches, the data is available in multiple formats. A dynamic map highlights specific variables, while the interactive table enables cross-country comparisons of indicators. The complete dataset is available to download for independent research. To assist with deeper analysis, the collection includes a data dictionary that defines each indicator, details calculation methods, and clarifies every column in the corresponding data table.

This resource is intended for researchers, policymakers, journalists, civil society organizations and citizens interested in a consolidated and transparent reference point to understand the global information environment and the structural conditions affecting independent media and open digital spaces.

Attribution information, full data dictionaries and source data are available in this spreadsheet.

The post Aggregated Country Data appeared first on Center for News, Technology & Innovation.

Research and legislative summaries are compiled by CNTI researchers with extensive academic training in journalism, technology and digital media research and theory. These researchers take several steps to ensure the highest quality products. These include reaching out directly to experts for input and review, searching relevant academic journals, law reviews and research organizations’ webpages, and reviewing the latest updates in news coverage across countries. 

All work – including both what sources are used as well as what inferences are drawn from the work – is then reviewed at multiple stages by CNTI research leadership and global research and industry expert partners, including CNTI advisory committee members. Our commitment to engaging with issues on a global scale also means that we actively seek out cross-country or comparative research and a broad range of legislative cases. At times, the external resources we link to in our work (including academic journal articles and news stories) will have paywalls, but we aim to direct all readers to a wide array of sources. We invite you to send us research, legislation and other resources.

How does CNTI assess research quality?

CNTI utilizes several criteria to assess the quality of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research – both that CNTI conducts and that the research assesses or draws upon:

• Reliability: the internal and external consistency and stability of results
• Validity: the internal and external accuracy and precision of results
• Generalizability: the transferability of results, either statistically (quantitative) or analytically (qualitative or quantitative)
• Credibility: the motivations or aims of the research, its funders and its participants
• Replicability (when applicable): the ability to obtain the same results when the full research process is conducted again

All research has limitations. Consistency, transparency, and awareness of the biases and limitations of methodological approaches are crucial elements of quality research. Research quality is assessed (internally by the CNTI team and collaborative partners, and externally by advisory committee members with relevant expertise) at every stage of research:

Aims and conceptual framework: Are the aims of this work clear? Do the authors have a clear grasp of the existing research in this field? Do the authors have a clear grasp of the contexts they are studying? This is particularly important in cross-disciplinary work – for instance, economists publishing research on social media – as well as in comparative and cross-country research.

Study design, sampling and methodology: Are the methods (1) systematic and (2) transparently explained? Are the methods appropriate for the research questions or hypotheses the authors are trying to address? What data are used, and how were they obtained? Do the authors note any conflicts of interest, or are any obvious conflicts of interest or important caveats not disclosed? Was the study pre-registered? For quantitative research in particular, pre-registered and open-science research is prioritized, both to ensure research results are not distorted and to promote transparency throughout the research process – including broader public access to the evidence upon which we rely. 

Data analysis: Is the methodological approach valid, reliable and (when possible) replicable? Are the data used selectively? Are statistical findings and differences careful and valid? Do the findings effectively answer the research questions or hypotheses?

Conclusions: Are limitations or sources of bias properly addressed? Do the authors address the theoretical and/or practical implications of these findings? Are conclusions correctly drawn from the data? Are the authors open about what is not answered by the data? Are the findings overgeneralized to contexts not studied in this research? 

At times, research may still provide valuable insights in spite of key limitations. When this is the case, CNTI addresses such limitations in-text, such as in “CNTI’s Assessment” within issue primers. When considering cross-country and comparative research, not all methodological approaches can be applied equally across contexts. As such, CNTI takes into consideration what is available in or applicable to each context. 

How is CNTI’s research funded?

As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, CNTI receives funding from various sources. However, we do not accept funding that exerts influence over what research is pursued, how it is conducted or what inferences are drawn from findings.

How does CNTI plan to conduct original research?

CNTI’s in-house research is conducted by researchers with extensive expertise in journalism, technology and digital media. We also collaborate with researchers, academic institutions and independent organizations around the world. For work that requires country-level expertise, we leverage these collaborative partnerships as well as our global advisory committee.

CNTI is committed to conducting objective, independent research in the public interest. The CNTI team ensures that all original and collaborative research, including comparative and cross-national projects, meets the highest standards of data quality and representativeness as well as research ethics. For research and policy analyses conducted outside the U.S., local experts are engaged in the process to account for nuances in translation as well as sociocultural contexts. Research will be pre-registered when applicable. CNTI research ascribes to the ethical standards of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity as well as AAPOR’s Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. All research that meets the U.S. definition of human subjects research is reviewed by an external Institutional Review Board. CNTI funders do not intervene in research in any capacity.

Internal assessments of data quality will be conducted by the CNTI team and executive leadership on a regular basis. As an organization committed to promoting transparent, evidence-based research, CNTI will share data, instruments and other resources publicly or upon request whenever possible. These include survey questionnaires and (when possible) data sets, interview guides, policy or other source repositories, codebooks and code. Some of these can be found on CNTI’s GitHub.

How often does CNTI update its content?

We at CNTI know the importance of keeping up with the latest developments in news and technology around the world. CNTI issue primers are updated, at minimum, on a quarterly basis, and include the date of the most recent revision at the top of each page. This work is also supplemented by CNTI’s monthly email newsletters. Longer-term trackers, such as our Aggregated Country Data, are updated as external organizations and institutions release new data (often on an annual basis). Original research reports, on the other hand, are stable as of their original publication date; when additional research is conducted, it is published as a separate report.

How does CNTI use AI tools?

See CNTI’s AI use policy .

The post Addressing Research Quality & FAQ appeared first on Center for News, Technology & Innovation.