Change-Centric Journalism: A vision for the future in the AI age

Far too often, the response to the question, “Why should journalism be saved?” is some variation of “Because it is inherently valuable”. It’s a vague and frequently immeasurable assertion that fuels an ever-increasing stream of content to compete in a market that rewards volume over value.

This focus distracts newsrooms from the widely known but often disregarded reason they stay afloat in the face of unspeakable difficulties: change.

It is time to reset our purpose and redirect our efforts to measuring how we equip individuals, communities, and societies to thrive. 

Change-Centric Journalism adds a layer of intentionality to our work that is deeply aware – and committed to – the context in which it plays out. It is rooted in the pursuit of impact that improves the lives of people through care-based reporting and purposeful engagement with them. At its core, it aims to revitalise the kind of public life that sustains democracies. 

Anyone looking to broaden their view about how journalism could restore relevance and trust, Change-Centric Journalism offers a plausible answer. The Framework of Change-Centric Journalism can be particularly useful to:

• Editors and media leaders, especially in small to mid-sized digital outlets, who are seeking clarity of mission, better use of limited resources, and tools to inspire teams facing burnout or stagnation.
  
• Subscription, membership, or public-service models, where the case for continued support must go beyond reach and towards demonstrable social value.
  
• Donors, funders, and media development practitioners looking to assess, support, or invest in journalism with a clear changemaking orientation. 

Change-Centric Journalism may require that newsrooms adopt new skills, new workflows and new roles. It needs leadership buy-in and resources – time, money, methods. Most importantly, these efforts will only be successful if they sit atop a strong foundation of principles and practices, which are described in here.

Change-Centric Journalism does not propose that journalists dictate outcomes. To paraphrase Propublica’s seminal white paper on journalism’s impact, advocacy begins with certainties, “with the facts already assumed to be established”, while journalism always begins with questions. 

Change-Centric Journalism insists that our practice must become deeply aware of the context in which it operates, and effectively incorporate the needs of the communities it serves.

The word change can evoke ideas of activism, but in this project it serves as a more grounded organising concept than impact, which has become overused – across metrics, fundraising, strategy and marketing – to the point of confusion. 

Change reframes the work as relational, dynamic, and ongoing. It shifts our attention from proving that journalism has value to exploring how it generates value – and for whom.

In a rapidly evolving information landscape, viewing journalism through a change-centric lens allows for more productive discussions about how to evolve our practice for relevance in the 21st century. 

Change-Centric Journalism the result of practical experience and research. During her six months as Reuters Institute Journalist Fellow at Oxford University, Jazmín Acuña built a framework for Change-Centric Journalism based on a decade’s work of El Surtidor from Paraguay. 

With her co-founders, Alejandro Valdez Sanabria and Juan Heilborn, and a superb team of reporters, designers and illustrators, El Surti broke through barriers with award-winning visual journalism – a mix of reporting with images that drive attention, such as memes. Their work has been praised locally and internationally as a prime example of how newsrooms can make information more accessible and shareable to new audiences.

El Surti has been showcased in panels, podcasts and articles for their innovative approaches to audience engagement. From 2020 to 2022, it launched and led Latinográficas, a regional effort to train reporters, designers and illustrators from Latin America in visual journalism. The program hosted 22 fellows from cities such as Buenos Aires, Cali, Ciudad de México, La Habana, Cochabamba and more; it delivered talks with leading industry experts such as AX Mina, Joe Sacco, Maria Teresa Ronderos, Eliezer Budasoff, Natalia Viana, Alicia DeSantis and Eleri Harris; and it convened more than 500 participants during the open seminars. 

Change-Centric Journalism also draws insights in the industry about the impact of journalism, media research, engagement and solutions journalism. 

The project has a strong perspective from the Global South, where outlets have had to navigate the changemaking space because, in many cases, there is no alternative. 

In contexts where citizens cannot rely on the state for protection or welfare, access to credible, local information becomes a matter of survival. In these settings, the value of journalism can only be understood in relation to the urgent needs of audiences.

If you want to get more information about Change-Centric Journalism, have a chat or want to apply some of what you see here in your reporting or your newsroom, we’ll be happy to hear from you. Send an email ↗

Hi! I’m Jazmín Acuña.

I’m a Paraguayan journalist, born and raised in Asunción. At age 18 I got a scholarship to study in the US, a life-changing experience. I lived there for six years, two of them at the United World College - an international boarding school in New Mexico - and four in New London at Connecticut College. 

While working on my senior thesis, I decided to become a journalist. I became interested in the role of the media in the transitional justice process in South Africa. Some similarities between apartheid and the oppressive regime that ruled Paraguay for 35 years struck me. But I was even more curious about what South Africans got right or wrong in their post conflict efforts. That’s how I landed a wonderful internship opportunity at the Mail&Guardian in 2010 to go through their archives. 

At the time, I considered pursuing an academic career, but the pace and energy of the newsroom convinced me otherwise. Soon I knew that I wanted to be part of a place where I could serve people with information on a daily basis, with a strong sense of purpose. 

I went back to Paraguay in 2011 after graduation with the idea of finding a job at a legacy media. But after just one work interview, I knew that wasn’t for me. Instead I joined the first public broadcasting station, a novel project. But that didn’t last long, unfortunately, due to politics. I put my call for journalism on hold for a while and pivoted into digital rights, collaborating with the launch of a pioneering organization in my country. 

A few years later, while pushing a successful campaign against a surveillance bill, I met designers Alejandro Valdez and Juan Heilborn, who shared my passion for social issues. Together we launched El Surtidor in 2016 out of the conviction that the open Internet can help us challenge the captured nature of the media landscape in Paraguay. Digitally native outlets like Ojo Público in Perú and Chequeado in Argentina inspired us. 

El Surtidor’s mix of striking images with original reporting became its signature, helping it stand out locally and internationally. In 2018, only two years after we launched, El Surti received its first Gabo award in innovation, and with that one the most important recognition for Paraguayan journalism. 

Under my co-leadership, the outlet has garnered other accolades, including the Ortega y Gasset Award for excellence in investigation (as part of the regional team of Transnacionales de la Fe, led by El Clip), finalist for the International Press Institute Free Media Pioneer Award (2023), and finalist for the Sigma Awards (2024). 

I have also conducted academic research and led training sessions with different organizations throughout these years. I’ve served as a panelist and facilitator at events hosted by the Gabo Foundation, the International Press Institute, Pulitzer Center, Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford, among others.

In 2025, I spent six months at Oxford University as Reuters Institute’s Journalism Fellow. Currently, I’m an Ashoka Fellow.