Technology-driven media and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in newsrooms have revolutionized journalism, and this technological disruption has witnessed the consumption patterns shift from print to digital media. Digital transformation, changing audience preferences, and economic pressures have led to a growing disconnect between legacy print media and news consumption in India. This study employs the socio-technical systems as a framework to explore the significance of social and technical factors redefining journalism, analyse the transformation, and how it adapts to new technology. To further address this gap between traditional news media and its audience, this study uses the DESTINY strategy in journalism, which refers to digital, engagement, storytelling, time, innovation, network, and yield as its components. This paper will integrate document analysis and 19 in-depth interviews of journalists, editors, and technologists from eight news organizations to analyse this disconnect and provide recommendations to guide the industry in identifying best practices, valuable strategies, and pathways to efficiency and innovation. The DESTINY strategy provides a strategic roadmap that can be developed for the news industry to adapt to audiences’ digital-first consumption patterns.