News

Data centers are reshaping communities. Local journalists should take notice.

Poynter · Jon Greenberg · last updated

Fueled by AI, massive new facilities are reshaping communities and creating a major reporting opportunity for local newsrooms

The 1967 film “The Graduate” gave us this iconic bit of career advice: “Plastics.”

Coming off a couple of midterm election workshops in the Midwest, my advice to any newsroom that cares to listen comes down to two words: Data centers.

These massive warehouses of data processing hardware are measured in mega, even gigawatts of power demand, enough to supply 600,000 homes. A medium-sized facility can require 100 million gallons of water a year to keep all that equipment cool. Fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence, they are popping up across the country.

 

Related Knowledge Center: Local media

State of Play

The hollowing out of the local news ecosystem has been well documented; in some communities, efforts are underway to reverse the growing news desert.


More informationabout Local media

Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom

State of Play

As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies —  they are deploying an array of editorial responses. 

The Times and its critics  |  Washington Post mortem    


More informationabout Inside the newsroom

Related Knowledge Center: Artificial intelligence

State of Play

On top of a failing business model, newsrooms must navigate the powerful — and not fully reliable — new capabilities of artificial intelligence and the deployment of large language models.

State of the business model | Copyright and intellectual property


More informationabout Artificial intelligence