A notification pops up. We scan the headline. We fit it into what we already believe. We move on.

Repeat this 20 times a day, and we start thinking we're informed. We're not. We're just exposed to the loudest voices.

Breaking news is designed to grab attention, not to give perspective.

So how do you build a balanced view of the world?

Try this simple mental model.

Think of a traditional newspaper.

Out of 15 pages, about 5 are ads, notices, and fillers. Ignore those. You're left with 10 pages of actual content.

Now look at how that content is distributed:

• Top half of the first page: Breaking news — about 5%.
• Bottom half of the first page: Follow-ups to yesterday's breaking news and deeper coverage — about 5%.
• International news: 10%.
• National news: 20%.
• State or regional news: 10%.
• City or local news: 10%.
• Opinions and columns (think influencers): 10%.
• Entertainment: 10%.
• Sports: 10%.
• Everything else (health, lifestyle, puzzles): 10%.

This mix is not random. It evolved over decades to give readers a well-rounded understanding of the world.

Now compare that with how we consume news today.

We spend 80% of our attention on breaking news, and maybe 20% on everything else combined.

No wonder our understanding feels shallow, reactive, and polarized.

Here's a better approach:

Take the time you already spend on news. Divide it using the distribution above. Choose your own trusted sources for each category.

You don't need more news. You need a better diet.

Try this for one week.

Then tell me how you feel!

In all this, a lot of other important news items, both big and small, don't get the attention they deserve. Breaking news works like the fog. It hides details that are important to us — be they international, national, or even local — that might affect us directly. The fog analogy highlights the unintended consequences of breaking news.

Then there is the other side — the veil. The veil's purpose is to hide. Breaking news is used to bury other inconvenient truths, to distract us from that which is important to us, and to keep us focused on where the powers that be want us to focus.

Both the fog and the veil are equally detrimental to us. That is why it is important that you spend only some of your attention on breaking news and consciously seek out publications that provide in-depth analysis of issues that affect our society.

There are many such publications. You just have to spend some time and look for them. That time you spend will be well worth your while!

As of early 2026, Google's AI-driven search features have reached enormous global scale. AI Overviews are now used by more than 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. AI Mode, Google's more advanced multimodal search experience that is often accessed through a dedicated tab, has surpassed 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. and India alone.

The expansion has been rapid. AI Mode is currently available in over 200 countries and supports more than 35 languages. In key markets such as the U.S. and India, AI-powered results have driven a reported 10 percent increase in usage for complex, long-tail queries. Engagement is especially strong among younger users. Those aged 18 to 24 are increasingly turning to AI-generated summaries and synthesized answers rather than relying solely on traditional link-based search results.

What does this mean for digital news publications and other content-generating sites? Take a look at the associated image.

The query at the top is a frequent request. Only the city changes. Now look at the response from Google. The AI Overview presents a top-level report on all the major news stories. You might notice three small, indistinct light blue pill-shaped boxes. They indicate where Google sourced the news, for those who are interested. Most users are neither interested nor likely to click through those links.

If they want more information, they can click on the "Dive deeper in AI Mode" button at the bottom and continue interacting within Google.

In all of this, the content creator is nowhere in the picture.

Organic traffic is becoming a thing of the past. Google ad revenues too!

It is time for publications to start building a direct relationship with their reader base. Otherwise, even if they write the most heart-warming, well-researched, and deeply incisive articles, there will be no one left to appreciate or even acknowledge their work.

With AI coming to the fore, organic traffic via search engines is dwindling dramatically.

SEO is becoming useless, and that's terrible news for everyone! But in a way, I am truly happy for websites around the world!

That's because I have always found SEO to be like an abusive relationship.

The search engine is the drunken father. He puts food on the table, no doubt. Not a lot, but enough to keep body and soul together. He is temperamental, behaves erratically, changes his mind constantly, and wants to be pleased all the time. He expects everyone to guess his mood and behave accordingly. If he is displeased for any reason, he can withhold stuff. And it's always their fault.

The websites are the abused family members – the wife and the children. They don't know what he will want on any given day or what his mood will be like. If he is happy, he may bring some treats. If they are lucky, he will just let them be. But if he is angry or displeased, there is no saying what can happen. He might even kill them!

No relationship built on fear and dependency can ever be healthy or sustainable.

I am glad SEO is dead. You should be too, don't you think?

It's time for all of us to find new ways of being found on the internet! And this time, we could try and do that through sensible means. Any thoughts on how you plan to bring traffic to your website going forward?

If you are a news publication, I might have some ideas. Do reach out and let's talk.

For years, news publications were told that if they did their SEO right, their articles would find readers. Search engines rewarded original reporting with visibility, and organic traffic was the lifeline that kept especially small and niche publications alive.

That world is disappearing.

Today, when you search for a news event or a topic on Google or Bing, you are no longer led first to the reporting itself. Instead, the search engine scans multiple articles and presents an AI-generated summary at the top of the page. Below that come paid results. Only after that, if at all, do you see links to the original articles.

Many readers stop at the summary. It feels complete. It feels convenient. And so they move on.

The immediate consequence is obvious: drastically reduced traffic to news websites. But the deeper consequence is far more serious, especially for niche and specialised publications.

These publications do not survive on brand recognition or massive advertising budgets. They survive because they report on issues that larger media houses ignore, and because search engines once helped connect that reporting to the readers who were looking for it. When AI summaries replace clicks, that connection breaks.

What makes this even more troubling is what comes next. Search engines are rolling out features that allow users to ask follow-up questions directly to the AI. The answers may still rely on reporting done by journalists and publications, but the user never sees the source. They see the search engine. The publication becomes invisible.

The content is still needed. The reporting is still valuable. But the organisation and the people who created it are cut out of the loop.

Over time, this creates a fatal feedback cycle. As traffic falls, revenues decline. As revenues decline, newsrooms shrink or shut down. As fewer publications are able to afford original reporting, there is less high-quality content for AI systems to summarise in the first place.

The end result is not better information. It is less journalism, fewer independent voices, and eventually a thinner, poorer news ecosystem. Niche publications, which often do the most rigorous and ground-level reporting, will be the first casualties.

AI summaries may feel like progress, but without a sustainable way for news organisations to survive, they risk hollowing out the very foundation they depend on.

If we care about the future of journalism, we need to rethink how readers discover and support news. Building direct relationships with audiences, rather than relying entirely on search engines, is no longer optional. It is a matter of survival.

Platforms that prioritise publishers and readers over algorithms can be one part of that solution.

The alternative is a future where the news slowly disappears, not because it is no longer needed, but because those who produce it can no longer afford to exist.

I am a big proponent of AI as a tool. I cannot understand why large firms want to give AI agency, but that is a topic for another post.

I believe that AI, when used as a tool, will help most industries and employees work better, smarter, and more efficiently.

Take the software industry, for example. A good software engineer today can generate more efficient, better-tested code using state-of-the-art design patterns and paradigms with the help of AI tools than they can without them.

The logistics industry can take into account far more parameters and variables when calculating the best way to ship a product from one place to another.

Translation, text-to-voice, and summarization services can help organizations reach more people more reliably and in their language of choice.

The list of examples is as long as the list of industries.

There is just one industry where I feel AI should not be used, or should be used very judiciously, and that is the news industry. This excludes translation, summarization, and similar assistive tasks.

News is not something that can be generated like a story. It requires ethical journalists to uncover new information, cross-check facts, gather multiple viewpoints, and ensure veracity before presenting it to their audience. AI can dissect the past and may even predict the future, but it cannot capture the present the way journalists can.

Just as we have badges that indicate zero pesticides in organic products, zero animal products in vegan food, and zero trans fats in healthy food, do you think we should seriously consider a badge for zero AI in news and journalism?

What's your take?

For over a decade, newspapers, TV news channels, and other mainstream media houses have been in steady decline. The year 2025 saw the increasing presence of AI in the industry and a consequent plummeting of web traffic to news websites.

So, what does 2026 have in store for the news industry?

I believe AI will continue to be a villain for mainstream media, while becoming a hero—at least for some niche publications.

For these focused and specialized small media houses, AI could help them become 10× more important to their readership and communities. They could transform from being mere providers of news in their areas of specialization into the primary source of important and actionable information for their discerning readers.

All of this can happen without them having to worry (too much) about technology or divert attention away from their core strengths.

AI can make that happen. [In fact, it is already happening]

If you are a niche publication, reach out to me, and we can discuss what might be in the realm of possibility for you and your publication.

In 2026, the single biggest asset for a news media house will be the strength of its relationship with its subscribers. In other words, brand loyalty.

Traditionally, it was enough to create a large amount of content. Search led to the discovery of the news site. Click-throughs resulted in better search rankings. Better rankings meant more traffic, and traffic translated into revenue.

Not anymore. AI is replacing search engines, and they are no longer directing traffic to publishers' websites. Instead, they read coverage from multiple sources, build their own consolidated narratives, and, right or wrong, present them with confidence to the reader. No amount of content alone is going to result in discovery, rankings, traffic, and eventually revenue.

The only way to survive, if you are a news publisher, is to ensure that readers come directly to you for answers. For that to happen, you need to build a reputation and earn credibility, and thereby be perceived as the definitive source of information in your areas of specialization.

That is why, at Tikker News, we are constantly highlighting the importance of the publisher-subscriber relationship. Without it, content, however good, will only collect dust.

If you are a niche publisher, reach out to me.

In 2025, for the first time in history, more people got their news from social media platforms and YouTube than from newspapers, news websites, or TV news channels.

In the US, and this is a trend seen across the rest of the world as well, more people now rely heavily on influencers and news commentators to help form their opinions.

Most major mainstream media companies are practically state-owned, politically owned, either directly or through proxies, state-controlled, or at least state-influenced.

In India, nearly all major media companies, especially newspapers, depend heavily on government advertising for revenue. This soft power effectively acts as a muzzle, as one can imagine.

Under these circumstances, the most reliable news often comes from small, struggling, regional, specialized, and vernacular media houses that are not dependent on government largesse. If you are not plugged into them, there is little chance of getting anything close to the real picture.

That is why, at Tikker News, we are working to bring niche, regional, and vernacular news publications under one umbrella. The goal is to help readers get the full picture from a single app.

Is there a specialized, local, or vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication that would like to be on Tikker? Let us know.

In an article published by Nieman Lab (under Predictions for 2026), Ms. Ethar El-Katatney, Editor-in-Chief of Documented, writes:

In 2026, more newsrooms will come to understand that loyalty is earned through presence, not just publication. Through answering questions. Through showing up consistently. Through being useful in moments when people actually need you. Audiences that have been ignored or underserved don't need to be convinced that journalism matters; they need to see that it's for them. And news organizations that prioritize hard-to-reach audiences will be rewarded with something the industry desperately needs: durable relationships.

While she writes this in the context of immigrants in America, the insight applies just as well to niche and regional publications in India.

I see so many digital newsrooms and their amazing journalists focusing on a narrow segment, working hard to be relevant to their discerning audience, even if they number only in the 1000s.

But survival is a constant challenge. Eyeballs bring in negligible revenue, and readers are still very reluctant to pay. How long can these invaluable publications go on, on donations from a few?

So here's my question to you: Will you pay for their survival today, so they are still there for you tomorrow?

At Tikker News, we are committed to helping rebuild the publisher-subscriber bond.

If chocolate manufacturers packaged their products in sweet, chocolate-flavoured wrappers, would we just lick the wrapper and throw away the chocolate? No? Then how come we never read past the headlines these days?

Why have most of us (over 80%, by some accounts) stopped reading well-researched, balanced, long-form articles?

What do you think changed—and what would make you slow down and read again?

At Tikker News, we are trying to bring many of the publications that produce in-depth articles, under one roof.

Is there a specialized/local/vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication who would like to be on Tikker? Let us know.

When I was a young boy, I heard this very old Tamil proverb: "கண்ணால் காண்பதும் பொய்; காதால் கேட்பதும் பொய்; தீர விசாரிப்பதே மெய்". The english transliteration reads as follows: "Kannal kanbathum poi, kathal ketpathum poi, theera visaripathe mei".

In essense, what it says is that your eyes and ears can be deceived and only a thorough investigation can reveal the truth.

This proverb rings true, now more than ever!

That is why at Tikker News we are trying to bring, under one umbrella, all those news publications that are doing the "Theera visarippu" for us.

Is there a specialized/local/vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication who would like to be on Tikker? Let us know.

There are several reasons for building another news aggregator app. I am listing some of these reasons in a series of short notes, in no particular order. This is Note 6.

Most news aggregator apps curate content from regular news media sites as well as social media platforms. If I could coin a term, I would call these Newcial media apps.

It is okay for news to percolate into social media—that is one way news spreads. However, it is definitely not okay for social media to invade the news, especially when social media is full of opinions, unsubstantiated reports, fake videos, and other misleading material.

At Tikker, we want to take a small step toward correcting this. While we cannot remove opinions from news publications, we can at least eliminate the direct infiltration of social media posts into news. To this end, Tikker News will host only genuine publications. So when you read an article on Tikker News, you will know exactly who has published it.

Is there a specialized, local, or vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication that would like to be on Tikker? Let us know.

There are several reasons for building yet another news aggregator app. I am sharing some of these reasons in a series of short notes, in no particular order. This is Note 5.

Everywhere I turn, I see examples of tech companies that began by serving a particular market segment and then, out of sheer greed, ended up unfairly competing with the very customers they originally intended to support. There are far too many examples to provide an exhaustive list, but I will include a few at the end of this note.

Many mobile news aggregators are similarly afflicted. They have moved very quickly from being technology platforms for news publications to curating news, modifying headlines to make them click-worthy, and generally deciding what the user should read. All of this is done to grab eyeballs and make money, journalistic ethics be damned!

At Tikker News, our endeavour is to remain a technology platform and to build all the tools necessary for publications to reclaim their editorial control and to help readers like me access well-researched, factually correct, cross-checked and consistently unbiased, or at least less biased, news.

Here are some other recognizable examples of encroachment and overreach:

Netflix: Over 50% of the budget for new content now comes from OTT platforms. They decide the script, they decide the genre, and they decide how simplified a movie or series must be.

Amazon: Many top-selling products now have Amazon-branded equivalents. What began as a platform for buyers and sellers has evolved into one of the largest sellers on its own marketplace.

Swiggy and Zomato: Many places you order from are not restaurants at all; they are cloud kitchens run by Swiggy or Zomato.

Spotify: The company has moved from streaming music to producing its own Spotify Originals.

OYO and Airbnb: These services have moved from being hotel aggregators to managing their own properties.

Is there a specialized, local or vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication that would like to join Tikker? Let us know.

There are several reasons for building yet another news aggregator app. I'm sharing some of these reasons in a series of short notes, in no particular order. This is Note 4.

Over 75% of Indians read news in their native language. When a tech team at one of the aggregators hears this, their immediate response is often to translate all the English news they curate into multiple Indian languages.

What they don't understand is that vernacular news is not just translated news. Vernacular news is more than that. It is regionally relevant news - news that affects the lives of people in small cities and towns; news that covers incidents and programs from the hinterland; news that emanates from our villages.

That's why, at Tikker News, our aim is to bring niche, vernacular, and local news publications onboard and give them a space to publish their stories - direct from them to you. Written in a native language, about grassroots-level issues from their regions, for readers of that native language.

Is there a specialized, local, or vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication that would like to be on Tikker? Let us know.

Would you believe it if I told you India officially has a staggering 1.3 Lakh RNI-registered publications - most of which you'll never see on your news feed?

There are several reasons for building yet another news aggregator app. I'm sharing some of these reasons in a series of short notes, in no particular order. This is Note 3.

A typical news aggregator pulls content from hundreds of sources and combines them into a single stream for you. Among these are mainstream giants such as The Times of India and The Hindustan Times - prolific publishers producing hundreds of articles a day. Also included are independent media houses like The Quint or The Migration Story, who publish only a handful of deeply researched, thoughtfully written long-form pieces each week.

Now, what are the chances that you'll actually notice these nuggets from niche publications amidst the deluge in your news feed? Pretty slim, right?

And that's a pity. As readers, we deserve to see what's happening beyond the headlines and beyond the breaking news cycle.

And what about the brilliant journalists at these independent media houses? Many of them work on shoestring budgets to bring us ground-level stories that truly matter. Surely they deserve a wider audience and a chance to reach discerning readers like you and me?

At Tikker, our goal is simple: to let you follow the independent news publications you care about, so you never miss the stories that actually matter. A better-informed citizenry leads to a better country for all of us, don't you think?

Is there a specialized/local/vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication who would like to be on Tikker? Let us know.

There are several reasons for building another news aggregator app. I am listing some of the reasons in a series of short notes, in no particular order. This is Note 2.

There was a time when news used to report facts. If and when a newspaper wanted to share its opinion, it used to do that under a column clearly marked as "Editorial" or "Opinion." Over the years, mainstream media became partisan, and opinions began mixing with facts, especially after the advent of news-only TV channels. News got diluted, but the opinions you heard were still those of people in power. Then social media happened. News percolated into social media. Then news aggregators happened. And more damagingly, social media (and the loudest voices) started flooding news.

With deepfakes added to the mix, we are today hard-pressed to figure out what is fact, what is opinion, what is real, and what is fake.

At Tikker, we want to take a small step toward correcting this. While we cannot remove opinions from news publications, we can at least eliminate the direct infiltration of social media posts into news. Towards this end, Tikker News will only host genuine publications. So, when you read an article on Tikker News, you will know exactly who has published it.

Is there a specialized/local/vernacular publication you would like to see on Tikker? Are you one such publication that would like to be on Tikker? Let us know.

The number of publications on board at the moment might still be underwhelming. We are working towards adding more. Don't give up on us. Install the app and keep track of progress. We need early adopters and evangelists like you. We can't do it alone.

This is my first formal note on Tikker News - the app we have built.

There are several reasons for building another news aggregator app. I will try and list out all the reasons in a series of very short notes. If you agree with some of the reasons, please download the app and use it regularly, and if you deem it useful enough, then ask your friends and relatives to download it too. There are only a few publications on it at the moment, but we will be adding more in due course of time. Be patient with us.

Note 1: With almost instant access to everything happening anywhere in the world, we are drowning in breaking news from everywhere. Unfortunately, this means we are missing out on news that is local and more relevant to us. Tikker News aims to be that single app that provides you access to local and vernacular news.

As a resident of Mysuru city, the news that the government is planning to take out 50+ acres of Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary for a road widening project is more important to me than what is happening with the Epstein files. At least, I can try and do something about the former.

Is there a local/vernacular news publication you would like to see on Tikker? Let us know.

We are not looking for funding... yet. May never, if the publishers support us. The idea is to build something we all need in this world of convincing fake news, without the pressures of investors demanding hockey-stick growth detracting us from our goals.