Joe Amditis Comments on AI Helping Newsrooms with Newsletters

Joe Amditis, Assistant Director for Products and Events in the Center for Cooperative Media, was recently featured in the article, “Can AI help local newsrooms streamline their newsletters?”

Amditis recently released a free handbook detailing applications and considerations for AI use by local news publishers. The handbook guides prospective users through detailed, color-coded tips for crafting the most effective prompts; describes some of the technology’s strengths and limitations; and includes guidance for executing specific uses, from cleaning transcripts to creating outlines to critiquing story ideas.

Since releasing the handbook, Amditis has heard that many publishers and reporters “seem to really appreciate the possibility and potential of using automation for routine tasks.” He believes “AI can save time, help small newsrooms scale up their operations, and even create personalized content for their readers and listeners,” though he raised the widely held concern about “the potential loss of that unique human touch,” not to mention the questions of accuracy, reliability and a hornets’ nest of ethical concerns.