Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Listening to Austin Lewter’s webinar presentation to Missouri Press members on AI policy, it would seem the best way to prepare for artificial intelligence’s use is to get yourself and your newspaper’s staff in the right mindset.
Lewter is the director of the Texas Center for Community Journalism at Tarleton State University and an instructor in journalism and broadcasting at the school. Lewter, who also owns a community newspaper with his wife in north Texas, was originally scheduled to speak in September at Missouri Press Association’s Annual Convention in Wildwood but had to leave early due to a family emergency.
During the Dec. 10 Zoom presentation, Lewter shared his thoughts on AI use and some of the feedback that has come from industry groups discussing how generative artificial intelligence tools can be used ethically in journalism.
“Whatever your [AI] policy is, your whole staff needs to be up to date on it and everyone is following it,” Lewter said, adding it is important to be ready to adapt and train yourself to think differently when it comes to generative AI.
What’s the difference between artificial intelligence, or AI, and generative AI? The former has been around for the better part of the last two decades as grammar and spell checks in word processing software, predictive text in email services or ad-targeting algorithms on social media.
Generative AI, though, is newer and, most often through prompts from a user, can be directed to “create” something new, like stories, graphics or even video. Popular services like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can not only answer questions, but they can analyze data and interpret it in ways that generate (hence the name) fresh and unique content.
If two users were to feed one of these services a prompt, even the same prompt, Lewter said, they could get two different responses, while both being correct.
Spreading adoption
Generative AI’s use is growing in newsrooms around the country, with many journalists seeing its potential for developing story leads, performing data analysis and assisting with audience engagement. On the sales side, generative AI services get tapped for everything from graphic design to sales ideation to image generation.
However, he cautions that things like “hallucinations,” where generative AI makes up information or cites non-existent sources mean human oversight is still very much necessary and important.
While much of the caution around generative AI’s use is applicable for most people, journalists have a few extra precautions they should consider as stories get prepped for publication.
First, be careful about feeding sensitive, proprietary or unpublished information into the machine. Once you do, Lewter said, you’re essentially putting it out into the world by making it part of that service’s body of referential information.
An example he offered was using a service like ChatGPT to format farm bureau reports to better fit with your newspaper’s style. That use is more ethically acceptable because of the information involved and the intended result. However, an editor having a reporter’s story rewritten by AI (and keeping the original byline) would not be ethical.
“Don’t cede your value to ‘the machine.’ What are we telling our employees if we’re feeding work to the machine and asking it to rework it,” Lewter said.
Second, while generative AI can be used to create images, its use should be limited to specific applications. “AI image creation should not replace news photography,” Lewter said, explaining that it should not be used to recreate or reenact a scene for news purposes.
Using AI tools and services to edit photos is generally acceptable as many are baked into software like Photoshop, but they should never be used to change the context of a news photo.
AI’s use in advertising is also often considered OK, but in all instances, it should be disclosed if an image is created with generative AI tools.
Lewter also cautions newspapers from using AI in ways their audience is opposed to because nobody knows your readers better than you.
“Some of our best guideposts are our audience,” Lewter said. “Be transparent with your audience about if and how you’re using it. If your audience doesn’t like [AI], then don’t use it.”
Lewter also touched on the legal implications of generative AI and its use in published content. He compared it to the Wild West because there’s no legal precedent for many of the services.
And while Lewter didn’t get into the politics of AI’s explosive growth, Pres. Donald Trump in December signed an executive order creating an “AI Litigation Task Force” under the U.S. Department of Justice. The order also directs the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission to cooperate with DOJ in addressing “onerous” local regulations affecting generative AI services and their corresponding data centers.
Finally, as you begin thinking about a policy regarding generative AI’s use, have an honest conversation about what you want the technology to do versus what you want to deliver for your readers and your expectations for employees. Lewter also stresses it’s OK to revisit your policy as the technology and services change.
“Whatever your policy is, you need to have it in place,” Lewter told Missouri Press members. “Even if your policy is to not use generative AI, that’s fine too.”
A tool like any other
Staff members using AI, including yourself, should not be dependent on the tool and be able to explain the process for using it in work and the process that is used to get to the final product.
“Writing well is thinking clearly, writing is a thinking process,” Lewter said. “If we can use this as a tool to polish stuff up, then cool, but if we get too dependent on the technology, then that’s a problem.”
Lewter doesn’t think true journalism will be replaced by generative AI any time soon because the services aren’t at that stage, and they may never get there.
“When it comes to community news, feature writing, human interest writing, I don’t think anybody does that better than the human yet,” Lewter said. “AI hasn’t figured out empathy yet, that’s the advantage news reporters have.”
If you’d like to watch Lewter’s Zoom presentation, you can find a link below or click here.
