Can GENArtificial Intelligence Save Small Media Outlets and Local Democracy ?

Enfoque

I Introduction

The Guardian, one of the most prominent news organizations in the UK, indicated in June 2023 its approach to generative AI. “When we use genAI, we will focus on situations where it can improve the quality of our work, for example, by helping journalists interrogate large data sets or assisting colleagues through corrections or suggestions,” wrote the paper’s editor Katharine Viner, and CEO Anna Bateson on a joint statement.

Those who favor Journalism AI emphasize the repetitive, small-scale, or easy-to-do tasks the tool provides, such as automating headlines or automatically publishing things like the weather or football results. The behind-the-scenes reason is aimed at reassuring the corporation of journalists and the general audience, afraid of the potential dangers of the so-called “bias of algorithm,” i.e., a supposed subjectivity of a process implemented by human minds. However, some small media outlets are going further in the use of IA. According to Associated Press (USA),  POLIS (UK), and Syndicat de la Presse Professionnelle (France, SPPRO), small newsrooms may benefit from the relevant use of AI and, therefore, save local news and democracy.

One of the challenges we must address is the following: what does the term ’save’ mean to them?

II Concepts and literature

The media ecosystem is presently facing two significant challenges.

II 1. Economics

The transition of print/digital still needs to be completed. According to a Schumpeterian analytical framework, the final stage, i.e., the Creative Destruction of the current wave of digital innovation, has yet to be reached. Therefore, the market is unstable. The profits are not significant enough. Too many players are involved in the competition, and the market shares are still blurring. Advertising revenues have declined. The massive platforms, outsiders of the news sector, are maximizing the new way of selling programmatic advertising. Therefore, many small outlets (around 2,000 in a decade in the States) have disappeared due to economic reasons. Many layoffs have taken place in most of the remaining ones to reduce operating costs.

Journalism IA has the potential to reduce those costs. In that setting, Journalism IA may be one of the five cases created by Schumpeter (1934, ‘  The Theory of Economic Development’) to explain what he referred to as ’innovation.’ IA could be a viable option for producing news and creating a new organization at a reduced cost. From that standpoint, Journalism IA is what Clayton Christensen calls a ’sustaining innovation’ (1997, ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma’). However, at what societal price?

II 2.  Social fact

If the widespread mistrust of media persists, it could be a worrisome and potentially deadly issue. The economic impact of distrust is clear; if people lack trust in a product’s content, they won’t buy it.

This suspicion stems from

1. Journalism wrongdoings
2. In recent decades, societies have developed a general lack of confidence in what Dewey called a genuinely democratic society (1927 ‘The Public and its Problems’). In this post-truth era, politicians, media, economists, and even scientists are confronted with the same skepticism at different levels. Is representative democracy at risk because of a low electoral turnout?

In that context, Journalism IA is globally viewed as a threat. Is quality journalism and good news useful for democracy really in danger? And if not, how can publishers turn around this feeling and convince the audience?  The works of sociologist Max Weber and thinker Habermas are of some interest on this topic.

III AI Tools used In small newsrooms and for what purposes?

There is more than ChatGPT on the field. In a 2022 report based on a survey, the Associated Press provided a list.

• Publishing National Weather Service data alerts in Spanish for El Vocero de Puerto Rico;
• Automating video transcriptions and summaries to create a baseline structure for a news story for KSAT-TV, a San Antonio, TX TV station;
• Building on a Minutes application that transcribes city council meetings with reporter alerts and keyword identification for Michigan Radio’s WUOM-FM;
• Sorting community news tips and pitches into a coverage planner for TV station WFMZ-TV in Allentown, PA
• Automating public safety incident roundups (police blotters) directly into the content management system for the Brainerd Dispatch in Minnesota

Other tools used worldwide

• Descript
• Google Alerts
• Meltalert
• Social Pilot
• Otter.ai

IV Experts and Experimentations

The research findings conducted by Charlie Beckett (London School of Economics POLIS ) will be used by us.  Other AI experts in Journalism, such as Jeremy Gilbert (Northwestern U and Knight Chair In Digital Media Strategy) provide interesting insights. In France, experimentations are led by SPPRO, an agency gathering 300 BtoB specialized outlets.

V Conclusion

We will outline the need for an international charter to regulate the practices.