AI in Local News: Uses and Guardrails
Source: laconiadailysun.com
AI in Local Newsrooms
Newsrooms are increasingly exploring how artificial intelligence can support their work. In New Hampshire and other places, news organizations are carefully considering the technology. They are also setting up safeguards, such as making sure AI doesn't write articles or create images.
How Journalists Use AI
Many journalists now use AI tools to transcribe interviews, saving time. Some news outlets use AI to monitor public meetings they cannot attend. This helps them find story ideas or sources.
Concerns and Cautions
However, there have been cautionary stories about using AI in journalism. For example, one publication printed a summer reading list using AI, and it contained books that didn't exist because the results were not fact-checked. Jonathan Van Fleet, editor of the Concord Monitor, stated that humans need to be involved in the process when AI is used.
AI can help journalists be more efficient but cannot replace their reporting, writing, editing, or fact-checking.
Local Newsrooms Weigh In
Julie Hirshan Hart, editor at The Laconia Daily Sun, said that while they don't have formal AI policies yet, they are discussing it. The Daily Sun will not use AI to write articles. Journalists have used AI for brainstorming headlines and photo captions. Hirshan Hart has also considered using it to automate tasks like formatting police logs.
Hart believes AI should not replace a journalist's news judgment, experience, or voice. She sees it as an aid in brainstorming or writing.
The Concord Monitor also uses AI to support its journalists. Van Fleet mentioned they use AI to suggest URLs that will perform better in search results. It can also convert large PDF files of public records into searchable documents.
Van Fleet said they use the tool to improve efficiency and speed. However, they are not using it to cover meetings.
Van Fleet noted that it is important for news organizations to be transparent about their use of AI. The Monitor has published its AI policy on its website, stating that staff must be clear about AI use in their work. All AI-generated information must be checked by a reporter or editor before it is published. The policy emphasizes that AI tools are not a substitute for human reporting, editing, or judgment. According to Van Fleet, they are not creating fake articles or having a robot cover the news.
This story is part of Know Your News — a Granite State News Collaborative and the New England Newspaper and Press Association's Press Freedom Committee initiative.