We need to learn to talk about AI

Being ‘Team Human’ when talking about AI

This week we once again got a glimpse of the tensions arising in newsrooms when it comes to the subject of AI. Semafor’s Max Tani reported on conversations over the technology and how journalists should view it.

Tani quoted Aimee Rinehart, the Associated Press’s senior project manager for AI, as saying in a Slack channel dedicated to AI and local news that there are “many — and I mean MANY — editors who would prefer an AI-written article to a human-written one. Reporting and writing are two different skill sets and rare — RARE — is the occasion when it’s wrapped into one person.”

This conversation stemmed from a recent Cleveland Plain Dealer column in which the editor wrote that the newsroom has an “AI rewrite specialist” who takes reporters’ interviews and turns them into stories to allow them to focus more fully on reporting.

Many journalists objected to the idea, saying that when you downgrade the writing part of reporters’ jobs, it can feel to them like they’re being viewed as — or worse, being turned into — mere stenographers.

Whatever their approach to AI, newsroom leaders need to find ways to talk about it that include a heavy dose of respect for what journalists do. In a piece for Jezebel / Splinter about who gets held accountable when AI goes awry, Jim Vorel noted the importance of empathy when news leaders talk about AI, saying “the folks calling the shots show no real concern for either writers’ existential fears or the liability that AI can pose to them.”

That was our concern here at the American Press Institute as well. If ever there were a topic on which news leaders needed to sound more like a human — and not, say, a bot — it is this one.

As our web applications engineer Marita Pérez Díaz put it in our own Slack: “Being Team Human is important in these times!”

• Related: Can AI save local news? (The Wall Street Journal)
• Also: Hyperlocal AI with a million subscribers. Patch built a newsletter system to be not hard-nosed journalism but a community-building tool. (CJR)
• And this: Grammarly is offering ‘expert’ AI reviews from your favorite authors — dead or alive (Wired)

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> The press faces a Pentagon ‘black box’ on the Iran war (CNN)

In ordinary war times, Pentagon reporters would get detailed briefings once or twice a day, but these days the White House is sharing videos on social media and using press conferences as pep rallies, leaving it up to reporters to verify the content and get more context. Brian Stelter spoke with six longtime U.S. military reporters on how the lack of traditional briefings from the Pentagon is making it harder for them to do their jobs — and for the public to grasp what’s going on.

• Related: Pete Hegseth treats fallen American soldiers as a PR problem (The Atlantic)

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Culture & Inclusion

>> Howard University and Forbes partner to expand the next generation of Black business journalists (Forbes)

Forbes is partnering with Howard University’s journalism program to bring one student to the Forbes newsroom each year, formalizing a pipeline between the publication and the university that has existed since 2020. The program aims to add a broader range of voices and perspectives to coverage of business, wealth and power.

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> Community listening reshapes immigrant media nationwide (Editor & Publisher)

Documented recently launched a program that will train more than 20 immigrant media outlets to create responsive news products that serve their communities. The initiative addresses a persistent gap in which community and ethnic media are under-resourced to create innovative products, Documented’s chief product and education officer Nicolás Ríos told Diane Sylvester.

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Revenue & Resilience

>> As broadcast slowly dies, niche-casting is on the rise (The Hollywood Reporter)

Broadcast TV morning shows draw half the audience they did 15 years ago, Andrew Zucker writes, and livestreamers targeting niche audiences are taking their place on X, LinkedIn and YouTube. These “nichecasts” serve as modern-day trade publications where hosts can interact with live viewers and then distribute short clips of the livestream on social media later in the day.

• Related: We partnered with streamers to talk rage bait, toxicity and media literacy. You can, too. (Poynter)

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What else you need to know

💸 Consumer Reports just dropped $3 million on its biggest ad push in five years (Adweek)

⚖️ RCFP expands free legal support to local newsrooms in Gulf states and upper Midwest (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)

🔏  ICE detains reporter Estefany Rodríguez in Nashville (Nashville Banner)

🫸  Paramount CEO David Ellison says CNN independence needs to be maintained (Deadline)

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Weekend reads

+ In today’s conspiracy theories, the lack of evidence is the evidence (The New York Times)

+ Community notes alone won’t beat disinformation: Why fact-checkers are essential (Tech Policy Press)

+ Beyond grants: Can local news sites find a lasting business model? (The Seattle Times)

+ It’s time for local news funders to pick winners, scale up, and force mergers, a new report argues (Nieman Lab)

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