The Online News Association began a quarter of a century ago, when the journalism industry wasn’t so sure the internet would be good for journalism, a lapse that allowed many opportunities — and potential revenue streams — to fall by the wayside.
To prevent this from happening again, ONA has developed and recently launched a new AI in Journalism Initiative, explains Meghan Murphy, ONA’s director of programs, and Hanaa Riafey, ONA’s head of strategic partnerships.
The trepidation the journalism and news industry felt 25 years ago about the internet is recurring in some circles at the thought of artificial intelligence, but some newsrooms are eager to learn more about how these tools can help drive their work forward in innovative and efficient ways.
“We’re still the organization for changemakers in journalism; we’re a hub for innovators and newsroom leaders who are saying how can we try things differently, how can we do things better,” Murphy says.
ONA members have asked the organization to develop tools, with special interest in generative AI specifically, according to Rifaey.
“AI is changing everything. We have an opportunity to take the lessons learned and apply them now,” she says. “Rather than the journalism industry responding again to changes in technology, we have an opportunity here to start earlier in the process, educate, train, get people to collaborate and be part of the architecture of the inevitable AI-impacted future,” rather than wait to be curious or try to learn more after the infrastructure is established and some companies are left behind.
There are currently two phases for the AI in Journalism Initiative: “First we have a series of one-on-one introduction to AI tools that exist,” she says. The lessons include some advice and insight on how to use AI as a fact-checking tool, “particular given that this is an election year.” Other sessions include “how you can use AI for leveraging your engagement strategy, prompt writing, all this stuff folks know is possible but they don’t know or have the time to look into or experiment with the tools and capabilities currently out there. We have a great trainer leading most of these sessions, Mike Riley.”
The second phase is a space for those who want to experiment and try their hand at using and maybe even building AI tools themselves.
“This is meant to bring together folks who are already playing with the tools, figuring out what it means for their newsrooms, potentially building tools, and they want a space to be able to share that, learn from each other, etc.,” Rifaey says. “They’re gathering once a month, they have their own Slack community as well where they’re talking to each other about what they’re doing, asking questions. One of the beautiful things about ONA over the years, we have found the community will get together every so often in person but they do a great job collaborating asynchronously.”
As for the ethical implications of using AI in journalism, Murphy says those conversations are “woven throughout” the training. “I think that sometimes people might be looking at that and saying I don’t want AI writing stories. The technology is really evolving as we go, but it’s not just for content creation. Ethics has to be at the core of this, making sure you’re keeping up the quality of work your audience is used to.”
There are biases, intentionally or subconsciously, in the DNA of AI tools, and journalists need to be aware of that, she adds. Humans will not be dismissed or cut out of the loop and will need to edit and verify any information provided by an AI tool in order to ensure biases are not blindly influencing and infiltrating reporting.
And while Microsoft generously provided some seed money to help get the AI in Journalism Initiative up and running, and ONA is very grateful for that funding, “to be very clear, the AI in Journalism Initiative is NOT a Microsoft program at ONA,” Murphy says. “We are welcome to any organization, company, individual funder to join us in supporting the industry’s education, experimentation, the next phases of what we’re trying to do, to allow more capacity around AI in newsrooms, particularly for those who are smaller and have less funds.”
The Online News Association recently launched a new AI in Journalism Initiative to provide tools and practical training for journalists looking to incorporate artificial intelligence into their reporting. Meghan Murphy, ONA’s director of programs, and Hanaa Rifaey, ONA’s head of strategic partnerships, share the details with It’s All Journalism host Michael O’Connell.
