AI Journalism

AI and NYT Subscriptions?

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Article in The Wrap by A.j. Karz, 11/4/26

Headline:  “New York Times Faces AI Questions as Digital Subscriber Growth Shines”

Subhead:  “Publisher beats Wall Street expectations as CEO Meredith Kopit Levien addresses AI risks to its subscription business”

“. . .Even a strong quarter of subscriber growth couldn’t free New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien from questions about the risks that artificial intelligence poses to the publisher. . .”

“The strong results come amid an undercurrent of concern over the potential impact of AI, from Google’s AI summaries reducing the need to people to actually read stories to AI agents proactively canceling subscriptions in an effort to save their users money. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/new-york-times-adds-420000-subscribers-as-q3-digital-revenue-rises/

Former Press Sec. a Bot?

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Article in The Hill by Finya Swai, 10/29/26

Headline: “Piers Morgan, Katie Zacharia tangle in contentious interview: ‘You sound like a robot’”

“. . .Zacharia refused to share details of the exchange, instead repeatedly declaring her loyalty to the president and accusing the media of trying to distract from his agenda. . .”

“ ‘Let’s cut the crap here and have a serious genuine conversation,’ Morgan said after several unsuccessful attempts to get Zacharia to answer his questions. ‘You sound like a robot. Has Donald Trump got some program plugged into you to make you come out with all this stuff?’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/6181114-piers-morgan-katie-zacharia-clash/

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Article in Comic Sands by Alan Herrera, 10/29/26

Headline: “Katie Zacharia Just Tried To Blame ‘The Media’ For Her Ouster As Press Secretary—And Was Hit With An Instant Reality Check”

Subhead: “After lasting just five days as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia went on Newsmax to try to claim that “the media” was really to blame—and nobody’s buying it.”

“. . .When Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt asked her to explain why she thinks “this didn’t work out,” Zacharia responded:

“. . . ‘They would not let me do my job, which was to focus on him and focus on what he’s doing to win and it became too amassed over me.’ . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.comicsands.com/zacharia-blames-media-ouster

AI and McClatchy

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Riddhi Setty, 9/17/26

Headline: “McClatchy’s Post-Layoff Future”

Subhead:   “AI is clearly part of the plan moving forward,” Ariane Lange, an investigative reporter at the Sacramento Bee, said. “It’s been part of the plan for quite some time.”

“Over the summer, journalists at McClatchy battled with management over the company’s plans to use artificial intelligence—and union members, organized in several regional guilds, largely seemed to be making headway. In July, newspapers in Washington State and Idaho ratified a union contract with significant AI provisions, including ones preventing the company from using AI to replace staff, using AI to impersonate journalists, or disciplining members for a chatbot’s mistakes. . .”

Then, last week, McClatchy laid off more than ninety unionized media workers across seventeen publications. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/mcclatchys-post-layoff-future-artificial-intelligence-ai-labor-union.php

Rt. Media Says “A.I is No Problem”

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Article in Media Matters 9/15/26 by Helena Hind, Jane Lee & Evlondo Cooper

Headline: “Right-wing media downplay AI safety concerns as a hoax by comparing them to climate change and “COVID hysteria”

“Right-wing media are following President Donald Trump in dismissing calls to slow down AI development in the wake of multiple hacking incidents as a ‘hoax,’ comparing concerns over AI to ‘climate change apocalyptic talk’ and ‘COVID hysteria’ including support for vaccines. . .”

“Trump vehemently rejected the idea of an AI slowdown in a series of Truth Social posts on September 14, calling the push for caution a ‘hoax,’ ‘scam,’ and a ‘SICK conspiracy.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/right-wing-media-downplay-ai-safety-concerns-hoax-comparing-them-climate-change-and

NBC Interviews a Bot, Really!

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Article in Mediaite by Ahmed Austin Jr., 9/14/26

Headline: “‘How Bizarre Is This?’ NBC News Airs Interview with AI-Generated Actress”

“NBC News aired an interview Monday that entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas conducted with an AI actress named Tilly Norwood.

“The interview premiered on Monday morning’s edition of 3rd Hour of Today. While introducing the interview, co-host Al Roker remarked, ‘How bizarre is this?’ Melas then added it was ‘quite an assignment’ before the segment began.

“Melas effectively did the interview like she would with any other virtual interview, with her speaking to Norwood via video call. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/how-bizarre-is-this-nbc-news-airs-interview-with-ai-generated-actress/

New Way to Spin the News

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Article in Status by Brett Giurato, 9/11/26

Headline:  “The Prediction Market Predicament”

Subhead:  “Prediction markets are making inroads with major news organizations, but at the Status Summit, two of the industry’s most influential leaders raised questions about whether embracing them could undermine reader trust.”

“As you might’ve heard, we held our first summit earlier this week in New York. I’m a little biased, but I’ve been to many media conferences like this, and honestly? They’re usually kind of boring. Wednesday’s affair at The Times Center was anything but—a day full of candid conversations about the state of the industry and its future. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/the-prediction-market-predicament

Newsroom AI Casualties

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Article in The Wrap by Tess Patton, 9/10/26

Headline:  “McClatchy Guts Newsrooms Nationwide Months After Controversial Push to AI”

Subhead: Papers in Miami, Kentucky and the Pacific Northwest saw as much as 30% of their staff cut on Thursday”

“McClatchy Media hit its newsrooms nationwide with significant layoffs on Thursday, with some newspapers gutted by a third of their staff.

“The layoffs came just months after the company’s push into AI with a controversial editorial tool that led to widespread revolt among staffers, as previously reported by TheWrap.

“The 168-year-old newspaper owner houses Pulitzer Prize-winning local outlets like the Bee, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer, among many others. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/mcclatchy-newspapers-layoffs-ai-tool/

Stealing from Journalists OK?

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Article in The Intercept by Noah Horowitz, 9/2/26

Headline:   “Trump Admin Tells Court: Let OpenAI Rip Off The Intercept’s Articles”

Subhead:  “Trump’s Justice Department filed a brief on behalf of OpenAI in a landmark copyright lawsuit by The Intercept and other media companies.”

“President Donald Trump’s Justice Department took the side of tech giant OpenAI in its court battle with The Intercept and other media companies over the company’s use of others’ creative work to train its artificial intelligence tools.

“In a federal court filing in New York, the Justice Department argued that the U.S. has a vested interest in OpenAI having access to a vast array of intellectual property. The Trump administration warned that restricting OpenAI’s access to the data could hamper scientific progress and harm the country’s dominance in the race for artificial intelligence. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://theintercept.com/2026/09/02/trump-openai-copyright-lawsuit-news-articles/

AI as Media Tool

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 8/27/26

Headline: “Should the Press ‘Run Toward’ AI?”

Subhead: “A new book argues that news organizations should enthusiastically adopt AI to improve their journalism. Critics aren’t so sure.”

“. . .Rosenstiel, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, argues that journalism is ‘failing democracy’ and should ‘become more focused on helping people live their lives than on merely getting their attention. . .”

“. . .instead of using datasets for one-off enterprise stories, journalists should work to combine multiple streams of information into a single, constantly updating hub—taking on the role of data wranglers, one might say—and then enable audiences to navigate that resource themselves, for instance with an AI chatbot. This, he argues, could help put newsrooms back at the center of their communities. The idea is about ‘extending the reach of human journalism using technology as a tool,’ he told me. ‘I’m not advocating having AI write stories.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/should-the-press-run-toward-ai-tom-rosenstiel-new-book-next-journalism-how-press-must-change-serve-democracy.php

Wall Street Journal Gets Wet

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Article in Status by Brett LoGiurato, 8/28/26

Headline:  “The WSJ Crosses the A.I. Rubicon”

Subhead: “The Journal’s opinion editor defended the use of A.I. in a recent column, but some newsroom staffers, and the publication’s union, are raising concerns about the precedent, Status has learned.

“Inside The Wall Street Journal’s newsroom this week, reporters’ group chats have been buzzing a bit more than usual. . .”

“On Monday, billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller stunned much of Wall Street by offering a pointed critique of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the hallowed pages of The Journal’s opinion section—only to later admit that he had used a large-language model to help draft the piece. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/wsj-ai-op-ed-stanley-druckenmiller