In partnership with

Find Your Next $100K+ Remote Job

Work from anywhere and grow your career with Ladders Premium.

Premium members get access to thousands of $100K+ remote jobs from employers who value flexibility and high-performing talent. Plus, you get tools that give you the edge:

• Apply4Me career experts who apply to jobs for you.

• Keyword-based search to filter roles that fit your lifestyle.

• AI-optimized resume to help you stand out in applicant tracking systems.

Whether you want more freedom, balance, or just the right role, Premium makes the search easier.

Start Remote Search

What Caught My Eye This Week: AI has Trust Issues

A report from NeimanLab shows that while people are using AI more than ever to research, get advice and find accurate information. According to the survey which spanned six countries and included  the share of people who’ve ever used AI tools (like Chat GPT, Claude, etc)  rose from 40% to 61%, and as the researchers report:

“This year, information-seeking has taken the lead, more than doubling from 11% to 24% weekly. People are using AI to research topics, answer factual questions, and ask for advice. They are, in essence, increasingly using it for tasks that were once the primary domain of search engines and, by extension, news publishers.”

While that sounds dire, there is some good news for those of us in the media — especially for journalists. People are using AI as what the researchers call a “first pass,” choosing not to click through to the sources if the answers are “good enough,” a trend I’ve been talking about in this newsletter for some time right here, as traffic to sites declines. 

While that’s hurting a lot of journalists (and freelancers) because ad revenue declines on a lack of eyeballs, (and therefore budgets get cut) there’s a silver lining in the research: People prefer human generated news over anything AI created. 

Across the six countries surveyed the stats look strong. As the researchers note: “Our report identifies a clear and persistent “comfort gap” between human- and AI-led news production. Across countries, only 12% of respondents are comfortable with news made entirely by AI, rising slightly to 21% if there is a “human in the loop.” Comfort, however, jumps to 43% for news led by a human with some AI assistance and 62% for news produced entirely by a human journalist.”

In other words: People still want journalists to do their jobs and do them well. 

A lot of this shift comes from the general enshittification of the internet — and Google’s AI-generated summaries clogging up search results. I’ve noticed it too: search has become a landfill of AI slop and ads. These days, when I start researching a story, I often begin in AI — but with very constrained prompts — then double-check every source myself.

And speaking of actual human journalists doing real reporting and research, I LOVE this story from the AP about the growing number of media outlets who have told Hegseth and his cronies to fuck right off with their “reporting rules.” So far the New York Times, Reuters, Washington Post, NPR, Fox News (yes that’s Hegseth’s former employer) and The Atlantic have outright refused to sign on to the rules. Even sketchy outlets like Newsmax said no way (which is a surprise).  It’s a small but powerful reminder that there’s still plenty of backbone left in American journalism and I’m personally here for it. 

Finally, a whole bunch of you reached out (and voted in the poll I sent out last week) about attending a free AI-resume tailoring event where I show you how to use AI to actually get through ATS systems (and get an interview). I’ll start working on putting together a date and time for that and offer recordings for those who can’t attend live. Keep an eye out for those dates to come up soon.

On to the Jobs

This week’s lineup is stacked.

Highlights include: 

• 🐋 A high-paying feature opportunity from one of the most respected literary mags out there (and it’s due today, so move fast).

• 🎨 A design outlet is paying $1.50/word for stories that imagine a better future — from AI to travel to the world you want to live in.

• 💵 A short-term contract gig in financial news that pays nearly $50/hour (but you’ll need to work nights).

• 🧠 A niche magazine on the mind and human behavior, paying up to $800 per story.

• 🍺 Plus, a handful of food and drink publications are taking fresh pitches — all $700+ per piece.

Altogether, this week’s freelance batch is full of solid, real opportunities — not recycled listings like you get everywhere else— across travel, culture, design, and psychology.

👉 Sign in or upgrade for access to all the verified freelance and staff media jobs this week — including roles paying up to $283,000 per year.

100 Genius Side Hustle Ideas

Don't wait. Sign up for The Hustle to unlock our side hustle database. Unlike generic "start a blog" advice, we've curated 100 actual business ideas with real earning potential, startup costs, and time requirements. Join 1.5M professionals getting smarter about business daily and launch your next money-making venture.

Get the guide

Get Access to the latest jobs for $5 per month!