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A lot of us have a visceral reaction when the use of artificial intelligence in journalism comes up. Doesn’t it just mean we’ll lose more jobs?
“We are not building tools to replace people,” said Aimee Rinehart, The Associated Press’ program manager for AI. “We are building tools to automate tasks and hopefully broker opportunities for journalists to do deeper, richer stories.”
In May, the AP announced a two-year partnership with the Knight Foundation to help local newsrooms make better use of AI tools ([link removed]) in partnership with the Knight Lab at Northwestern University. Last month, the AP announced ([link removed]) a survey ([link removed]) of local newsrooms to help gauge where they’re at with AI. Newsrooms don’t have to be AP members to participate.
“We really want to understand what’s happening in local newsrooms so then we can build a curriculum and tools that address that specifically,” said Rinehart, who previously worked at First Draft News.
She’s already spoken with a few newsrooms and heard about the need for transcription services, archiving, and automation for things like school lunch menus and even reporting, for instance, of high school sports.
“That’s not to say it shouldn’t be covered,” Rinehart said, but for some games, a score will do.
In 2014, the AP started experimenting with automating earnings reports, and it found removing that task from the jobs of business reporters gave them the time and space for analysis, Rinehart said. The AP has also now spent a few years working on automation and sports ([link removed]) , and they’re not the only ones. In Mansfield, Ohio, digital newsroom Richland Source created Lede AI ([link removed]) to help cover high school sports.
But why is the AP interested in helping local newsrooms expand capacity?
The short answer is — because it can.
“Unlike local newsrooms, AP has capacity to experiment, and experimenting means that you might fail,” Rinehart said. “Local newsrooms cannot fail. Whatever they use, it has to work.”
Following the survey, which will close in mid-November, the AP will drill down to hear from about 30 newsrooms. From that group, it could choose five newsrooms to work with for a year of strategy and experimentation. Rinehart plans to share what they learn, and it starts by filling out that survey.
Don’t get lost in the terminology, Rinehart added. The work they’re starting doesn’t intend to replace the critical thinking required of journalists, she said.
“It’s just not replaceable.”
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* My colleague Angela Fu wrote about the Gannett journalists who are speaking up about unpaid overtime ([link removed]) .
* Fu also wrote about a report that documents the rise in nonprofit newsrooms covering local news and communities of color ([link removed]) .
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* I’m very interested to see what happens with the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ. As always, Rober Feder is covering it ([link removed]) .
* This is important: AFRO-American newspapers is digitizing 129 years of archives ([link removed]) .
* Good news: LION’s Media Liability Program is in all 50 states ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
* Congrats to the winners of this year’s Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for Courage in Journalism ([link removed]) .
* And congrats to Radio Ambulante ([link removed]) ’s Daniel Alarcón, one of this year’s MacArthur fellows ([link removed]) .
* Check out Source Matters ([link removed]) , a tool from API to help you track the diversity of your sources.
* From the Center for Cooperative Media, learn about how 40 newsroom collaborations in the U.S. are funded ([link removed]) .
* Report for the World has expanded to Brazil and is growing in Nigeria and India ([link removed]) .
* The 2021 Facebook Journalism Project North American Reader Revenue Accelerators opened applications today for its second round. Apply by Oct. 21 ([link removed]) .
* I’m really enjoying reading the comments ([link removed]) from people donating to the Tampa Bay Times local news fund.
* What do you say about a beloved surf pioneer? For an obit I wrote this week for the Tampa Bay Times, I let that surfer do the talking ([link removed]) .
That’s it for me! My kids talked me into watching “Squid Game” on Netflix and now at least one of them wants help figuring out how to turn that into their Halloween costume. I’ll be happy to accept the parent of the year award any time. :)
Kristen
Kristen Hare
Editor, Locally
The Poynter Institute
@kristenhare ([link removed])
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