AI in the Newsroom: Practical Uses for Today's Journalists with Dan Grech (LNM Episode 25)

Local News Matters

Dan Grech joins host Tim Regan-Porter again to explore the practical applications of AI in journalism. This episode delves into how AI tools are currently being used in newsrooms to free up time for journalists and better service audiences.

The conversation highlights the potential of AI to influence storytelling and marketing, its impacts on journalism and local news, and the changes it could bring about. Grech and Regan-Porter discuss various practical AI use cases for journalists, including processing police reports, automated translation of weather reports, and creating transcripts of public meetings. They emphasize the importance of "human in the loop" in AI applications and the need for journalists to adapt to new tools and methodologies.

This episode is part of a series exploring the opportunities and challenges AI presents for journalism, offering insights into how AI can be a powerful ally in the mission of truth and storytelling.

Episode chapters:

(05:27) - Practical AI use cases for journalists from AP

(09:24) - Use Case 1: Processing police reports

(13:12) - Lesson: AI can free up time to focus on key tasks (but automation is difficult to maintain)

(15:39) - Use Case 2: Automated translation of weather reports

(18:39) - Use Case 3: Transcripts of public meetings

(23:01) - Use Case 4: Classifying press release emails for assignment

(26:13) - The importance of “human in the loop”

(27:58) - The importance of working on *how* you work as a journalist

(32:02) - Impact, not just efficiency

(34:40) - Use cases for existing off-the-shelf tools: writing support

(40:22) - Use cases for existing off-the-shelf tools: interview prep

(42:43) - ChatGPT tips

(45:56) - Data analysis and other miscellaneous uses

Links:

• Dan Grech: LinkedIn, Twitter

• BizHack Academy: web, Twitter

• Mentioned:

• Navigating the AI Revolution in Journalism: A Conversation with Dan Grech (LNM Episode 16)

• ICFJ

• Local News AI

• Brainerd Dispatch

• El Vocero

• Michigan Radio

• Scrum

• ChatGPT

• Duet AI

• Copilot

• DALL-E

• Midjourney

• Local News Matters: web, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

• Colorado Press Association: web, Twitter, Facebook

• Tim Regan-Porter: bio, Twitter

For show notes, transcripts, newsletter sign-up and past guests on the Local News Matters podcast, please visit localnewsmatterspodcast.com or lnmpod.com.

Past guests on the Local News Matters podcast include: Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita (URL Media), Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro (National Trust for Local News), Mike Rispoli and Richard Young (via When the People Decide), Sarabeth Berman (American Journalism Project), Rabbi Hillel Goldberg and Shana Goldberg (Intermountain Jewish News), Lyndsay C. Green (via The Journalism Salute), Rashad Mahmood and Mark Glaser (New Mexico Local News Fund), Christian Vanek and Barbara Hardt (The Mountain-Ear), Dan Grech (BizHack), Zack Richner (Easy Tax Credits), Tracie Powell (Pivot Fund), Dan Oshinsky (Inbox Collective), Linda Shapley (via What Works), Yehong Zhu and Jake Seaton (Zette, Column), Charity Huff (January Spring), Joaquin Alvarado and Dave Perry (Aurora Sentinel), Steve Waldman (Rebuild Local News), Maritza Félix (Conecta Arizona), Michael Bolden (American Press Institute), Jeff Roberts and Corey Hutchins (CFOIC, Colorado College), Eve Pearlman and Erica Anderson (Spaceship Media), Jennifer Brandel (Hearken, Democracy SOS), Corey Hutchins with Bay Edwards, Todd Chamberlain and Raleigh Burleigh (Sopris Sun).