AI is changing journalism for the second time in a decade. Platforms reshaped how news travelled and who controlled its reach. Now generative AI is going further, and making the questions of independence and visibility even more urgent.
Presented by Media Innovation Center Babelsberg (MIZ), the Journalism & Tech track explores what that means in practice.
INTRODUCING: THE SESSIONS
Horizon Stage – September 29
The Agent Layer: Finding Journalism's Place in the AI Ecosystem
Soon, most of the entities accessing journalism won't be people. Ole Reissmann, Germany's first Director of AI at SPIEGEL Group, examines what it takes for newsrooms to show up in the emerging agent layer, and what breaks structurally when AI sits between media organisations and their audiences.
Adapt or Resist? Journalism Between Platform Power and AI
Platform power challenged media independence. Algorithms competed with editorial judgement. Reach outweighed relevance. Now generative AI is driving the next transformation. The panel asks:
✔️ What lessons from the platform era remain applicable?
✔️ Will smarter strategies and stronger regulation do the job, or does journalism need entirely new approaches?
✔️ Can the AI layer be an opportunity for journalism to reposition itself as a trusted source?
Join Rebecca Ciesielski, Ole Reissmann and moderator Nhi Le for the debate.
INTRODUCING: THE SPEAKERS
OLE REISSMANN is the first Director of AI at SPIEGEL Group, working on how one of Germany's most-read news organisations puts AI to work in strategy, transformation and product development. He has spent his career building at the intersection of journalism and technology.
REBECCA CIESIELSKI is a reporter at the AI + Automation Lab of Bayerischer Rundfunk, specialising in algorithmic accountability. Her investigations examine how AI, algorithms and automated systems shape society and the people within it.
NHI LE is a journalist, moderator and author whose work focuses on social policy and digital media culture. In 2019, ZEIT listed her as one of the 100 most important young East Germans; in 2021, Medium Magazin included her in its Top 30 under 30 journalists in Germany.
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