A comparative study of policy pathways for AI and immersive journalism: Empowering news media through regulatory innovation

The rise of artificial intelligence and immersive journalism promises engaging storytelling but also deepens platform dependence, economic fragility and ethical uncertainty for news media. This article compares six policy pathways that could rebalance power in the digital information environment: public-interest AI grants, alternative revenue schemes, regulatory sandboxes, decentralized infrastructures, algorithmic transparency mandates and deepfake accountability policies. Drawing on cases from the European Union, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, it evaluates how each mechanism addresses editorial autonomy, financial resilience and public trust. Findings suggest that layered, reinforcing policies are essential: grants and revenue redistribution provide resources for experimentation, sandboxes and transparency rules align technological design with societal values, while decentralization and content verification enhance authenticity and pluralism. The study concludes that policy coherence, cross-sector coordination and assessment are pre-conditions for ensuring that algorithmic and immersive technologies serve democratic communication within an increasingly saturated information landscape.