AI hasn’t figured everything out. This is Midjourney’s take on “Morgan Freeman eating an ice cream cone with Drake University’s bulldog mascot Griff.” We’re still safe for the moment.
Maybe it’s because journalists already feel like they have a target on their backs that they’re so obsessed with artificial intelligence. But AI can already write stories like they’re almost human. It can create images out of text prompts. It can write headlines in an instant. What’s stopping it from taking over completely?
In some ways, it’s journalists themselves. That target has made them the vanguard in the new robot wars, and they’re starting to fight back. Major news organizations like the New York Times, CNN, and Reuters are blocking AI bots that crawl their websites. The Times even included a new line in its terms of service, banning anyone from using its content “for the development of any software program, including, but not limited to, training a machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) system.” And all three of the organizations, as well as others like Amazon, have included code on their websites to stop OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, from gobbling up the information on their sites.
All this comes after OpenAI revealed in early August that it has a new bot, GPTBot, to ingest large swaths of the internet. It revealed in a blog post that GPTBot is designed to access websites to “help AI models become more accurate and improve their general capabilities and safety,” which sounds like a good idea.
The problem is, though, OpenAI has been crawling the web prior to GPTBot for years without telling anyone. The company has been murky at best when talking about crawling copyrighted material. Some, like comedian Sarah Silverman, have sued OpenAI for vacuuming up her books without permission. Others, like the New York Times, are considering it. And still others, like the Associated Press and Reddit, want to get paid to train large-language models, though AP did make a statement that it does not stand behind the idea of artificial intelligence replacing journalists.
“We do not see AI as a replacement of journalists in any way,” wrote Amanda Barrett, AP’s vice president of standards and inclusion, on the AP’s new Stands Around Generative AI.
Even so, AI is already creating serious problems for journalists. Some less scrupulous websites have been using AI to plagiarize news stories from legit sources. According to a new report from NewsGuard, a misinformation monitor that’s trying to provide guardrails for AI, 37 websites are “using chatbots to rewrite news articles that first appeared in news outlets including CNN, The New York Times, and Reuters.” No one is credited. There are no links back to the source material. And no human supervision is involved. What’s worse, NewsGuard said in the report that “there are likely hundreds—if not thousands—of websites that are using AI to lift content from outside sources that NewsGuard could not identify.”
So maybe that obsession with AI is justified. As journalists, we have to stay on top of generative AI innovations. It has implications for our industry. It’s already impacting our readers. And it has the potential to impact the very fabric of society. To do that, maybe join Slack communities like JournalismAI to keep up with the latest conversations. Or sign up for newsletters like Prof. Snider’s “Innovation Profs” or the JournalistsToolbo.ai. Regardless, we have to stay informed, if only so we can greet our new robot overlords when they take over everything.
Ok, now on with the memo!
Summer Dreams
The Washington Post isn’t the only big news organization seemingly in endless-summer mode. Now the Dow Jones News Fund also wants you to spruce up your resume and cross your fingers in hopes of scoring a Summer 2024 internship. And like the WashPo summer internship, Dow Jones is looking for more than reporters.
This year, the organization hopes to place students interested in audience engagement, data journalism, multimedia platform editing, and business journalism in over 70 newsrooms across the country, including stalwarts like The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Those selected will also get a week-long pre-placement training session, $1,500 in scholarships, and—one of the greatest benefits—access to the DJNF alumni network. Oh, and you also get paid. Just be forewarned, there is a timed test that applicants need to pass to be considered.
Applications for the Washington Post summer internship are due Oct. 4, while DJNF applications are due Nov. 16. If you want more information about the DJNF internship, you can sign up for one of two information webinars here.
Expanding Voices
JMM is taking a stand: The world has quoted enough old white guys. Of course, when the Society for the Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW), an organization covering an industry built on old white guys, agrees with JMM, then you know it’s not that controversial of a stance.
In fact, SABEW wants to help you rethink your source list. The organization is hosting a webinar featuring CNBC anchor Jon Fortt and VP of News Jason Gewirtz designed to increase the diversity of your sources. They’ll also discuss the idea of whether organizations should track the diversity of the sources used in stories. The webinar Sept. 21 from noon- 1 p.m. and is free. Sign up here.
Gone in an Instant
Jodi Huisentruit disappeared sometime around sunrise on June 27, 1995. She was running late for her shift on KIMT Channel-3 morning show “Daybreak” in Mason City, Iowa. When police arrived at her apartment at 7 a.m. that morning, soon after the TV station had called to report her missing, they found signs of a struggle. Her personal items were strewn about outside her car. Police recovered a palm print from her car. They never recovered Huisentruit. Nearly 30 years later, she has never been found.
Which is probably why “Crime Junkies,” one of the largest true crime podcasts in the country, has dedicated a new episode to the case. You can also delve deeper into Huisentruit’s disappearance at FindJodi.com, an organization hoping to finally bring Jodi home.
Becoming Part of the Story
Normally, journalists don’t get involved in the news. Our job is to document rather than participate, and that can stir up more than a few ethical dilemmas. Ultimately, Douglas Soule and Alicia Devine decided it was better to be human.
Soule, a USA Today Network First Amendment reporter, and Devine, a Tallahassee Democrat photographer, had been sent out to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia in Florida’s Big Bend area. The two followed a smoke plumb to a house fire. They ended up hoisting trashcans full of water to help put out the flames.
JMM always cautions young reporters to never make themselves the story. But Tallahassee Democrat writer Ana Goni-Lessan summed it up well: “Journalism wasn’t going to help put out a house fire near the Suwannee River.”
Want to Join the Share Circle?
Do you have some essential info or were you named a Flourish Fund finalist like Rook Room owner and Iowa Public Radio Membership Manager Annelise Tarnowski (DMP, ‘15)? If you do, send it on over to jeff.inman@drake.edu. JMM will treat it like this video by Insider Business about SJMC grad Kayli Kunkel (Mags, GD, ’15) and her three eco-friendly Earth & Me stores in New York City and tell everyone about it.
Finally, SJMC grad Morgan Noll (Mags, ’19) keeps Real Simple magazine on trend.