Environmental news outlet mongabay finds ai access boosts rather than hurts traffic and impact

The rise of artificial intelligence has created anxiety across the journalism industry, with many news organizations worried about declining web traffic, copyright violations, and the devaluation of human reporting. But Mongabay, a leading nonprofit environmental news organization, is discovering that embracing AI rather than blocking it has yielded surprising benefits.

Unlike many publishers who have restricted AI systems from accessing their content, Mongabay made the strategic decision to allow AI tools to draw from their environmental reporting. The organization’s leadership reasoned that if AI systems were going to answer questions about forests, fisheries, conservation, and biodiversity, it would be better for those responses to be grounded in rigorous journalism rather than less reliable sources. This approach aligns with Mongabay’s nonprofit mission of maximizing environmental impact rather than protecting a paywall-dependent business model.

The results have defied expectations. Rather than experiencing the anticipated drop in website traffic, Mongabay has seen the opposite effect. This counterintuitive outcome highlights a crucial limitation of AI systems: while they excel at summarizing and rearranging existing information, they cannot directly observe the world, make accountable judgments, or generate original reporting. These built-in constraints actually strengthen the value proposition of quality journalism in the AI era.

Mongabay’s experience suggests that environmental journalism may become more valuable, not less, as AI systems proliferate. By serving as a trusted source that informs AI responses, rigorous environmental reporting can extend its reach and influence while maintaining the irreplaceable human elements of investigation, accountability, and firsthand observation that machines cannot replicate.