How AJP is cutting through the AI hype for local newsrooms

I don’t think [the field guide] will be fully finished in terms of the content that’s in it, because this space is changing so fast. Even in the last week before we were publishing this thing, we were adding, removing and changing names. People are coming into this space. They’re dropping out; they’re getting acquired. They’re combining. There are all sorts of moving targets.”

Liam Andrew, technology lead, American Journalism Project

You can’t spell “productivity” without “product.” So, local news grantmaker American Journalism Project (AJP) launched a field guide this past fall to screen AI tools for local reporters as big tech hawks their wares to the news industry.

“We just saw a common pattern, especially last year, in a lot of tech providers seeing a big opportunity in the space,” said AJP Technology Lead Liam Andrew. “Especially sourcing out of public meetings and minutes, and being able to encounter patterns, detect outliers [or] see when big, newsworthy events might be happening.”

The guide’s vetting employs hands-on testing from AJP’s Product & AI Studio, which stems from a partnership with tech giant OpenAI valued at more than $5 million in 2023. Through grants, the initiative enlists newsrooms to play around with such technologies in their journalism. This year, the studio examined civic information from approximately 10 partnering news organizations.

One of those organizations was Chalkbeat, the education-based nonprofit newsroom examined how AI tools could summarize and transcribe public meetings when the news organization could not deploy a reporter. The work ultimately expanded geographic reach and identified potential sources and stories.

“Our industry is just awash in AI tools and tips, and it’s all constantly changing,” said Eric Gorski, Chalkbeat’s managing editor for local news. “That this guide reflects work put in by like-minded organizations is of great value. We all come from a place of genuine curiosity and healthy skepticism of the benefits and pitfalls, which is what journalists should bring to all aspects of their work.”

Fittingly, the guide takes a journalistic approach. Rather than making direct recommendations, AJP provides what it knows so the newsrooms can make the best-informed decision on which tool to consider.

Of course, different outlets need different tools. Andrew said AJP does not intend for the field guide to serve as a competitive landscape map, even as many boast overlapping functions, such as meeting summarization. Some, like City Meetings NYC and the California and Hawaii-based Digital Democracy, are regional. Others specialize in specific fields, such as Everlaw’s legal document review. But almost all require little expertise to dive into. And none are meant to replace the actual journalist behind the reporting.

AJP hosts the field guide on the Airtable platform, listing the verified AI tools by alphabetical order. Each entry features the basics like website address, core functions and a short description, along with pros and cons, newsroom client disclosures and what distinguishes it from competitors. Long-term, the field guide will exist as a living resource for newsrooms through quarterly updates.

“I don’t think it will be fully finished in terms of the content that’s in it, because this space is changing so fast,” said Andrew. “Even in the last week before we were publishing this thing, we were adding, removing and changing names. People are coming into this space. They’re dropping out; they’re getting acquired. They’re combining. There are all sorts of moving targets.

“They’re also developing new features all the time, newsrooms are coming to them with new needs, or we're discovering new needs that newsrooms have. … I expect this will remain a shifting resource. I don’t expect it will ever be final-final.”

Tandy Lau is an award-winning journalist currently based in Jersey City. He currently works as a staff reporter covering public safety for the New York Amsterdam News in Harlem. He can be contacted at tandylau1995@gmail.com.