The architecture of death row is not built of stone and steel, but of stagnant time. To be on death row is to live in the dead, yet living; you are a ghost inhabiting a body that the state has already marked as a tragic clerical error. It is the only place on Earth where the future is not a mystery, but a fixed point on a calendar; a Tuesday at dawn or a Thursday at midnight, creeping toward you with the silent, rhythmic inevitability of a tide. On the row, the world shrinks to the size of a postage stamp, a paradox of hope where the cruelty lies not just in the isolation, but in the litigation of that hope.
Damning data shows that the clock is ticking. In 2025, the global media industry faced a "structural collapse" as Big Tech pivoted from a referral-based web to a consumption-based "buffet." Digital advertising shifts, declining print traffic, and AI disruption are the executioners. The most staggering loss has been the evaporation of digital foot traffic; news publishers saw their share of Google Search referrals plummet from 51% in 2023 to just 27% by the end of 2025—a direct result of "zero-click" AI Overviews that satisfy user queries without passing on the click.
While the total global advertising pie expanded to $1.14 trillion, the spoils were increasingly sequestered. Alphabet alone crossed the $100 billion quarterly revenue threshold in Q3 2025, while premium publishers reported organic traffic declines of up to 25%.
The numbers for 2026 are even gloomier, with global search referrals to publishers collapsing by an additional 33%. Like the indifferent light of a cell block, GAI summaries satisfy queries without a single click. "Zero-click" searches now sit at 69%, leaving publishers to starve in the shadows.
For the mainstream press, the loss is colossal. An estimated $2.3 billion in annual global ad revenue has been diverted from those who report the news to those who merely summarize it. In the first half of the 2025/2026 cycle, the industry saw catastrophic job cuts linked to this AI-driven traffic collapse. The Washington Post, for instance, announced roughly 300 job cuts, about 30% of its staff, and shuttered its sports desk due to reported losses of $100 million.
A total eclipse is dangerously on the horizon. GAI "Answer Engines" have transformed from bridges into walls. Reports show that while Google Search used to send a visitor for every 14 times it crawled a site, AI firms are now scraping sites 13 million times while delivering as few as 650 visits. With industry experts predicting an additional 43% decline in search traffic over the next three years, the window for action is closing rapidly.
This is not just a threat to publishers; it is a suicide pact for the AI industry. If we allow GAI to bankrupt the people who produce original, verified journalism, the AI will eventually have nothing to "eat" but its own digital rubbish. Every layoff in a newsroom represents a "last": the last investigative report, the last local court reporter, the last check on power.
Gladly, some countries are pushing back. From the EU’s AI Act to Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code and South Africa’s compensation deal, the world is waking up to the need for emergency interventions to stop Big Tech from cannibalizing the ecosystem that sustains it. However, litigation alone is insufficient; while the New York Times spent a colossal $10.8 million in 2024 on GAI-related legal expenses, that remains a drop in the bucket for the "filthy rich" AI firms.
The argument is simple: just as the Nigerian government is obligated to protect citizens against fake drugs through NAFDAC, the Tinubu administration is equally obligated to protect Nigeria, its democracy, and its citizens’ rights against the insidious practices of Big Tech. This is not the time to sit on the fence. If we do not speak for the journalists today, there will be no one left to verify the truth tomorrow.
Trusted news media need governments and intellectual property offices worldwide to decisively enforce digital fairness. Without transparency mandates, the right to opt-out of scraping without losing visibility, and fair compensation, the "Death Row" of journalism will reach its final Tuesday at dawn. When the last trusted newsroom goes dark, GAI will have plenty to say, but nothing true to talk about.
*Contributed by Olusegun Adediran CEO, Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) olusegunadediran@gmail.com
For the mainstream press, the loss is colossal. An estimated $2.3 billion in annual global ad revenue has been diverted from those who report the news to those who merely summarize it. In the first half of the 2025/2026 cycle, the industry saw catastrophic job cuts linked to this AI-driven traffic collapse. The Washington Post, for instance, announced roughly 300 job cuts, about 30% of its staff, and shuttered its sports desk due to reported losses of $100 million.
A total eclipse is dangerously on the horizon. GAI "Answer Engines" have transformed from bridges into walls. Reports show that while Google Search used to send a visitor for every 14 times it crawled a site, AI firms are now scraping sites 13 million times while delivering as few as 650 visits. With industry experts predicting an additional 43% decline in search traffic over the next three years, the window for action is closing rapidly.
This is not just a threat to publishers; it is a suicide pact for the AI industry. If we allow GAI to bankrupt the people who produce original, verified journalism, the AI will eventually have nothing to "eat" but its own digital rubbish. Every layoff in a newsroom represents a "last": the last investigative report, the last local court reporter, the last check on power.
Gladly, some countries are pushing back. From the EU’s AI Act to Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code and South Africa’s compensation deal, the world is waking up to the need for emergency interventions to stop Big Tech from cannibalizing the ecosystem that sustains it. However, litigation alone is insufficient; while the New York Times spent a colossal $10.8 million in 2024 on GAI-related legal expenses, that remains a drop in the bucket for the "filthy rich" AI firms.
The argument is simple: just as the Nigerian government is obligated to protect citizens against fake drugs through NAFDAC, the Tinubu administration is equally obligated to protect Nigeria, its democracy, and its citizens’ rights against the insidious practices of Big Tech. This is not the time to sit on the fence. If we do not speak for the journalists today, there will be no one left to verify the truth tomorrow.
Trusted news media need governments and intellectual property offices worldwide to decisively enforce digital fairness. Without transparency mandates, the right to opt-out of scraping without losing visibility, and fair compensation, the "Death Row" of journalism will reach its final Tuesday at dawn. When the last trusted newsroom goes dark, GAI will have plenty to say, but nothing true to talk about.
*Contributed by Olusegun Adediran CEO, Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) olusegunadediran@gmail.com
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