What is "churnalism"

n. (context derogatory English) The use of ready-made press release material copied wholesale into a newspaper article as if it were the journalist's own copy.

Churnalism is a word coined to describe a form of journalism in which press releases, stories provided by news agencies, and other forms of pre-packaged material, instead of reported news, are used to create articles in newspapers and other news media. Its purpose is to reduce cost by reducing original news-gathering and checking sources, to counter revenue lost with the rise of Internet news and decline in advertising; there was a particularly steep fall from late 2015. The term "churnalism" has been credited to BBC journalist Waseem Zakir, who coined the term in 2008.

Churnalism has increased to the point that many stories found in the press are not original. The decline of original journalism has been associated with a corresponding rise in public relations.