“Technology has always been a disruptor of the status-quo and

creator of new paradigms. News media has experienced this change

from the beginning. The latest entrant in the long list of disruptive
technologies is AI, which is changing the media ecology with great
speed. New forms of journalism are being created. New questions
related to journalistic ethics are emerging in the light of intersection
of AI and journalism. This book, one of the pioneers in this domain,
discusses these issues and attempts to answer some of the emerging
questions. It is useful for understanding what AI is doing and can do
in the field of journalism and other social studies and how one
should effectively engage with it.”
Professor Mrinal Chatterjee, Regional Director, Indian Institute of
Mass Communication, Odisha, India

“Generative Artificial Intelligence is very easy to use, which has led

to its rapid uptake and current widespread use. With it, however,
comes a series of very important considerations. As automatic text
generation becomes increasingly sophisticated and nearly
indistinguishable from an author’s creation, questions of ethics,
copyright, truthfulness of information, and provability of statements
come to the forefront. This book provides an intriguing set of
possibilities, and a novel journey into uncharted territory that is both
compelling and realistic. It is an enjoyable, thought-provoking read.”
Professor Luigi Benedicenti, Dean, Faculty of Computer Science,
University of New Brunswick, Canada
Exploring the Intersection of
Artificial Intelligence and
Journalism

This book studies the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism. It

traces the origin, growth and development of the media and communication
industry in the globalized world and discusses the implications of
technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and extended reality,
which have helped foster a communication revolution across the globe. The
volume discusses technology-centric media theories in the context of AI and
examines whether AI has been a boon or bane for data journalism. It also
looks at artificial intelligence in beat reporting and citizen journalism and
analyses the social–cultural implications of artificial intelligence-driven
journalism and the ethical concerns arising from it.
As an important contribution this book will be indispensable for students
and researchers of media studies, communication studies, journalism, social
media, technology studies and digital humanities. It will also be useful for
media professionals.

Santosh Kumar Biswal (PhD), Associate Professor and Head, Department

of Journalism and Mass Communication, Rama Devi Women’s University,
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
Anand J Kulkarni (PhD), Professor and Associate Director, Institute of
Artificial Intelligence, MIT World Peace University, Pune, Maharashtra,
India.
Exploring the Intersection of
Artificial Intelligence and
Journalism
The Emergence of a New Journalistic Paradigm

Santosh Kumar Biswal and Anand J Kulkarni

First published 2024
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2024 Santosh Kumar Biswal and Anand J Kulkarni

The right of Santosh Kumar Biswal and Anand J Kulkarni to be identified as authors of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Biswal, Santosh Kumar, 1979- author. | Kulkarni, Anand Jayant, author.
Title: Exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and journalism: the emergence of a new
journalistic paradigm / Santosh Kumar Biswal, Anand J. Kulkarni.
Description: London; New York: Taylor & Francis, 2024. | Includes bibliographical references and
index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2023044159 (print) | LCCN 2023044160 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032716893 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781032716886 (paperback) | ISBN 9781032716879 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Journalism–Technological innovations. | Artificial intelligence. | Journalism–Objectivity.
Classification: LCC PN4784.T34 B57 2024 (print) | LCC PN4784.T34 (ebook) | DDC 070.4/3–
dc23/eng/20231017
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023044159
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023044160
ISBN: 978-1-032-71689-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-71688-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-71687-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
The authors dedicate this book to their parents. Also, love to
Anand’s son Nityay and Santosh’s daughter Nivanshi.
Contents

Author Biographies
Foreword
Preface

1 Introduction to Journalism: The Journey and Experience

from Stone Carving to ChatGPT

2 Understanding Artificial Intelligence

3 From Stone Carving to ChatGPT: Understanding the

Changing Role of Technologies in Journalism

4 Deliberating Theoretical Justifications in the Prism of

Journalism and Artificial Intelligence: A Revisit of Theories
in Media and Communication

5 Situating Artificial Intelligence in the Space of Development

Journalism: A Revisit of Development Communication

6 Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism: Situating

the Changing Nature of Technologies in the Ecology of News
Media
7 Data Journalism and Artificial Intelligence: Interrogating the
Data with Machine

8 Data Journalism with Artificial Intelligence: An Ambivalence

of Good and Bad

9 Artificial Intelligence in Fostering Citizen Journalism:

Investigating the New Form of Participatory Journalism

10 Deliberating Artificial Intelligence in the Prism of Citizen

Journalism: Comparative Perspectives and Competing
Explanations

11 Socio-cultural and Economic Implications of Artificial

Intelligence on Society: Understanding the Mediating Role of
Journalism

12 Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence into Newsrooms:

Negotiating with Newer Ethical Issues and Responsibilities in
Journalism

13 Foundations, Ferment and Future of Artificial Intelligence in

Journalism

Index
Author Biographies

Santosh Kumar Biswal is an Associate Professor and Head of the

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Rama Devi
Women’s University, Bhubaneswar (India). He holds a PhD from
Osmania University, Hyderabad (India), on the representation of the
disabled in print media in India. He was the topper and gold medalist in
his master’s program. He has worked at the Symbiosis Institute of Media
and Communication, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune
(India) from 2015 to 2022. Previously, he worked at the Andhra Loyola
College (Autonomous), Vijayawada (2009–2014) and Hindustan Times,
New Delhi (2006–2009). He has coedited two books: Social and
Cultural Dynamics in Indian Cinema (2020) and Holistic Approaches
to Brand Culture and Communication Across Industries (2018). He has
published a number of research papers in ABDC and Scopus-indexed
journals. He has published business cases on reputed platforms including
SAGE. He has also published a number of popular columns in national
English dailies including The Indian Express, The Asian Age, The
Telegraph, Hindustan Times, The Pioneer, The Statesman and Deccan
Chronicle. He has contributed MOOCs for SWAYAM and e-PG
Pathshala – MHRD, Government of India. He has delivered 15 radio
talks at Rainbow Krishnaveni FM (102.2 MHz), All India Radio (AIR),
Vijayawada Station, Andhra Pradesh, India (2012–2014). Currently, he is
the Associate Editor of Media Watch, a media and communication
journal.

Anand J Kulkarni is currently working as Professor and Associate Director

of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at MITWPU, Pune, India. He
holds a PhD in Distributed Optimization from Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore; MS in Artificial Intelligence from the University
of Regina, Canada; Bachelor of Engineering from Shivaji University,
India; and Diploma from the Board of Technical Education, Mumbai. He
worked as a Research Fellow at Odette School of Business, University
of Windsor, Canada. Anand worked with Symbiosis International
University, Pune, India, for over six years (2014–2021). His research
interests include optimization algorithms, multiobjective optimization,
continuous, discrete and combinatorial optimization, swarm optimization
and self-organizing systems. He pioneered optimization methodologies
such as Cohort Intelligence, Ideology Algorithm, Expectation Algorithm
and Socio Evolution and Learning Optimization Algorithm. He is the
founder of Optimization and Agent Technology Research Lab and has
published over 70 research papers in peer-reviewed reputed journals,
chapters and conferences along with 5 authored and 15 edited books. He
also writes on AI for several newspapers and magazines. He has
delivered expert research talks in countries such as the United States,
Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, India and France.
Foreword

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and journalism is a rapidly

evolving field that has the potential to revolutionize the way we produce and
consume news. This book explores the latest research on the use of AI in
journalism, from fact-checking to automated reporting. It also discusses the
ethical and legal challenges that need to be addressed as AI becomes more
integrated into the news media. It attempts to understand the paradigm shifts
in journalism.
The book begins by providing an overview of the history of AI and its
potential applications in journalism. It then discusses the challenges and
opportunities that AI presents for the news media. One of the biggest
challenges is the potential for AI to be used to spread misinformation. AI-
powered bots can be used to generate fake news articles and social media
posts that are difficult to distinguish from real content. This can have a
serious impact on public discourse and democracy. Another challenge is the
ethical implications of using AI in journalism. For example, should AI be
used to automate the process of fact-checking? And who is responsible for
the accuracy of AI-generated content?
This book unravels the space of AI in development communication and
development journalism. It deliberates on the dimensions of citizen
journalism, which has become the larger discourse in media and
communication. It also discusses the opportunities that AI presents for
journalism. For example, AI can be used to automate tasks such as data
collection and analysis, freeing up journalists to focus on more creative and
investigative work. AI can also be used to personalize news content for
individual users. The book concludes by calling for a responsible and ethical
approach to the use of AI in journalism. The authors argue that AI can be a
powerful tool for informing and empowering the public, but it is important to
use it in a way that respects human values.
I believe this book is an important contribution to the field of journalism.
It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research on the use of AI
in journalism and raises important ethical and legal questions that need to be
addressed. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the future of
journalism.
I hope this book will inspire readers to learn more about the intersection
of AI and journalism and contribute to the development of this exciting field.
I also hope this book will encourage future researchers to explore the ethical
and legal challenges of using AI in journalism. This is a complex and
challenging field, but it is also one with the potential to make a real
difference in the world.
Pratyush Ranjan
Senior Journalist, Head of Digital Services, Multimedia, Social Media and
Fact Checking
Press Trust of India, India
Preface

It was the year 2018. We were then working with Symbiosis International
(Deemed University), Pune (India). We heard about the world’s first
artificial intelligence (AI) news anchor. China’s state news agency Xinhua
could do this. News was all around about the use of AI in journalism. We
were thinking of writing a book on this subject. Moreover, our association
with journalism and technology for around two decades was another factor
behind this book. The idea for the book was materialized when we met each
other in the campus of Symbiosis. Santosh and Anand were from Symbiosis
Institute of Media and Communication and Symbiosis Institute of Technology,
respectively, from the same university campus of Symbiosis.
The book could emerge from our observation and discussions that were
taking place on a global scale. We could realize that change is the only thing
that is constant in journalism. With the advent of newer communication
technologies, the academic and practice of journalism are ceaselessly
undergoing numerous changes. Modern communication technologies such as
augmented reality, virtual reality, AI, machine learning, metaverse and
blockchain have started influencing the journalistic practice, which precisely
include the ecology of journalism – production, distribution and consumption
of news. AI, one of the major technologies, has added value to the existing
state of journalism. There are several reasons why the incorporation of AI
tools in journalism is increasingly becoming worthy. So, understanding,
examining and evaluating the assimilation of AI techniques with journalism
remains crucial. The journey of writing this book was a learning curve for
both of us.
In this book, we attempt to critically explain the use of AI in various
facets of journalism. Introduction to journalism; understanding artificial
intelligence; understanding the changing role of technologies in journalism;
revisiting theories in media and communication; development journalism in
the age of AI; changing nature of technologies in the ecology of news media;
data journalism and artificial intelligence; artificial intelligence and citizen
journalism; sociocultural implications of AI-driven journalism; ethical issues
and responsibilities in AI-driven journalism; and foundations, ferment and
future of AI in journalism have been discussed. We hope that the insights and
arguments deliberated in the book will facilitate and foster debates and
engagements among academics and industry persons.
1 Introduction to Journalism

The Journey and Experience from

Stone Carving to ChatGPT
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-1

1.1 Introduction
“Artificial Intelligence” (AI) is the buzz word in the world today. Usually,
when people hear the word AI, they tend to think of robots. AI refers to the
simulation of human intelligence by employing software-encoded heuristics.
Today, this code is extensively used in everything from cloud-based
enterprise applications to consumer applications to embedded firmware. AI
has the ability to meet human being’s requirements through technical
solutions. Solutions could be in the form of text, images and videos or a
combination of all these three. AI has numerous applications in different
industries and fields, each with the capability to reduce human effort by
automating and doing everything through machine algorithms. Predictive
analytics and AI will unquestionably play a greater role in content creation
and software development in the future. AI has started transforming
industries and helping solve complex problems, and many predict that such
trends will continue unabated.
The uses of AI are endless. This technology can be applied in many fields
and industries. AI has a wide range of applications in today's society. AI is
making our daily lives easier and faster. It is becoming more and more
important in modern times as it enables us to solve complex problems using
competent methods in varied industries such as education, business and
marketing, healthcare, astronomy, entertainment, finance, travel, tourism,
media and communications, automotive, agriculture, gaming, data security
and the like. For instance, the implications of AI tools in the field of
education are apparent. AI tools can address the issues in the field of
teaching, education and pedagogy and transform the field which could
ultimately expedite the progress toward the realization of sustainable
development goals. However, speedy technological development inevitably
brings with it many challenges that so far go beyond political debates and
regulatory frameworks. UNESCO attempts to help the member states to
recognize the potential of AI technology and apply it to achieve the 2030
Agenda for Education with the principles of inclusiveness and equity.
Essentially, UNESCO’s mandate for human-driven method to AI is
praiseworthy. The role of AI in mitigating today’s disparities, which can
deliver equity to access to holistic development comprising knowledge,
technological developments and cultural freedom. This further fosters a sense
of diversity in the spheres among global citizens. The clarion call “AI for
All” envisages the advantages of technological innovations for each and
everyone on the globe (UNESCO, 2022a). Precisely, AI needs to be
inclusive in nature. Like in the field of education, the presence of AI in the
domain of media and communication, in general, and journalism, in
particular, is getting prominent.
The uses and gratification of journalism is not a new concept. From
ancient times to modern cyber era, journalism has implications on human
society. Humans crave for news and events that are happening around.
Journalism acting as the fourth estate, remains a watchdog (McNair, 2009).
News consumption was also existed in ancient times. The journey of
journalism with the help of stone carving to ChatGPT, an AI tool has been
dynamic and ever insightful.
Whatever the form of journalism, whether it is print, electronic or digital,
the basics of journalism remain the same. In this context, understanding the
fundamentals of journalism is of paramount importance. Encyclopedia
Britannica (2022) defines,

“journalism, the collection, preparation, and distribution of

news and related commentary and feature materials through
such print and electronic media as newspapers, magazines,
 books, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, social networking and
social media sites, and e-mail as well as through radio,
motion pictures, and television. The word journalism was
originally applied to the reportage of current events in
printed form, specifically newspapers, but with the advent
of radio, television, and the Internet in the 20th century the
use of the term broadened to include all printed and
electronic communication dealing with current affairs.”

Going beyond, American Press Institute (2022) defines,

“journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating,

and presenting news and information. It is also the product
of these activities. Journalism can be distinguished from
other activities and products by certain identifiable
characteristics and practices. These elements not only
separate journalism from other forms of communication,
they are what make it indispensable to democratic societies.
History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more
news and information it tends to have.”

The gathering, assembling and presentation of news are the fundamentals of

journalism. Even though journalists are engaged in creating a variety of
contents, these contents are facts-driven. These are nonfiction material in
nature. Additionally, journalists typically work for a news organization that
compiles their work and distributes it to the general audience. So, for
instance, a nonfiction piece on a current election would be considered as a
journalistic piece. The exact timing of the information presented in a
journalism piece varies greatly, but in general, it will be connected to
something current enough to potentially have an impact on readers’ lives.
When conducting research for a story in journalism, biases are not allowed
to enter the equation. For each story that is covered, it is necessary to gather
competing viewpoints and convey both of them without having one’s
personal perspective influence the article. The audience is able to create
their own opinions as a result.
Journalism is one of the industries with the broadest range of
opportunities. If one wants to pursue and succeed in this field, they must be
willing to dabble in a wide range of diverse things on a regular basis.
Information gathering, analysis and dissemination are all steps in the
journalism process. This indicates that it is a profession with a significant
social responsibility component. Because of this, journalists must adhere to
the highest ethical standards, including independence from all commercial or
political interests and accuracy, balance, objectivity and truthfulness.
In order to inform and educate the readers and viewers and shaping up the
public policies, journalism attempts to help people comprehend various
issues and development of society. In addition, there is a desire to amuse,
though it is still secondary. Therefore, the purpose of journalism is to present
reality in the most lucid and accurate way possible. It helps maintain public
trust and engagement in the institutions that shape their lives by encouraging
public discourse, examining pertinent problems of public concern and
holding decision-makers responsible. Whatever the event to be covered,
journalism has certain objectivity, which needs to be adhered in the process
of production, distribution and consumption of news.

1.2 Objectivity of Journalism

Objectivity of journalism deserves due discussions. Journalists strive to
convey information to the audience that is pertinent to their daily lives when
they are writing articles. It is crucial that journalism is to be both accurate
and helpful (Harcup, 2009). An ethical journalism provides information on
people, events and topics that have an impact on society or on daily life.
Journalism is a vital component of a democratic society. In a democracy,
journalists have also the responsibility of making sure that the populace is
informed so that they may comprehend their government and cast their votes
accordingly. Journalism is essential for getting this information out to the
public so that voters can be aware of the candidates and the topics at stake in
their elections. Journalists can expose corruption and serve as
whistleblowers (Di Salvo, 2009) in addition to informing the voters.
Countries with press freedom typically do better than those with journalistic
constraints. Countries with severe press censorship are frequently not at all
democratic in nature. The objectives of journalism remain pious whatever
the genres of journalism are. There are some typical categories of news
media reporters, along with descriptions of their primary coverage areas.
Recent newsworthy occurrences are covered by breaking news reporters.
They are considered generalists and frequently write on a wide range of
topics. When asked to define a reporter, most people immediately think of
these journalists. There are different types of journalists, and their works are
different in terms of nature and working mechanism. It largely indicates the
nature and forms of journalism.

1.3 Nature and Forms of Journalism

So far as the nature and forms of journalism are concerned, they are varied.
Broadly, different types of journalism include investigative journalism, crime
journalism, political journalism, civic journalism, lifestyle or celebrity
journalism, art and culture journalism, business journalism and sports
journalism. Investigative journalists create in-depth and lengthy reports on
topics that the general public does not fully or adequately understand
(Gaines, 2007). Investigative reporting typically, but not always, focuses on
systemic failure in the public or commercial sectors or corruption inside
such institutions. Criminal justice news is the primary focus of crime
reporters. They discuss criminal trends, court proceedings, arrests and how
the public might defend itself against various crimes.
Reporters who cover politics concentrate solely on political issues. Their
works cover political scandals, new laws, elections and other government-
related topics. The news that is important to health and healthcare is the main
emphasis of health and wellness journalists. Their articles cover themes
related to public health, including fresh information on various
pharmaceuticals, nutrition trends and research into various disorders.
Culture, media and leisure are the main topics covered by arts and
lifestyle reporters. These journalists write articles on topics including
interior design, food, movie reviews and advice columns. Lifestyle or
celebrity reporters cover influential persons, such as actors, musicians and
bloggers. They might speak with their subjects in-person or just write a
report on their most recent deeds. The objective of editorial, opinion and op-
ed writers is frequently to persuade the readers to share their opinions by
writing articles with a blatant, declared slant. While some media outlets
employ opinion writers full time, others rely on freelancers to provide this
type of content. Whatever the formats of journalism, knowing the origin and
growth of journalism is imperative.

1.4 Origin and Development of Journalism

Journalism is not a recent phenomenon. The era of journalism started with
Acta Diurna in 59 BC. Acta Diurna was a daily official announcement of the
Roman government written in Latin on stone or metal plates and disseminated
in various platforms (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911). The times have
changed the nature and implications of journalism. The passage of journalism
from the era of stone craving to social media and then from times of social
media to artificial intelligence and ChatGPT has been fascinating, yet
sometimes unpredictable. The technology-based journalism media has
enhanced the flow of news, and subsequently the production, consumption
and distribution of news have substantially increased (Widholm, 2019).
However, a study finds that interests for and consumption of news among
younger and older generations are different from each other (Boulianne &
Shehata, 2022). For this evolving pattern, social media has immense
implications. Thanks to social media driven by technologies.
Social media has started providing personalized news contents along with
pictures, videos and gaming for free of cost (Westcott et al., 2022). The use
of social media for news is prevalent more among younger people. Social
media and digital media have strengthened local news media outlets
(Newman et al., 2021). Thanks to the diverse nature and pattern of
geography, language, demographic to which the news consumers belong to.
With the proliferation digital media, the 24-hour news flow has been
intensified. The convergence media has further propelled the pace of
production, distribution and consumption of news. Especially, digital media
has given birth to citizen journalism which is of the citizens, by the citizens
and for the citizens. Such forms of journalism has democratized news among
citizens on a wider scale. Overall, the media and communication industry
keeps on experiencing persistent changes. With the passage of time and
ceaseless applications of communication technologies, socio-economic,
business and cultural dimensions of journalism are experiencing changes.
Metaverse is a part of technological innovations in the field of journalism.
Metaverse provides ample opportunities in newer forms to the ecology of
journalism. Journalism through this technology enables news reporting in a
virtual reality (VR) environment. It is seen as an evolution of traditional
journalism, enabling and empowering reporters to deliver more immersive
and engaging stories and experiences to their audiences. Metaverse provides
ample opportunities to change the process of news reporting and
dissemination. Such technologies equip the reporters to conduct and cover
the events in virtual space. Precisely, with the assistance of such
technologies, audiences are experiencing immersive journalism. Thanks to
the information and communication technologies.
With the assistance from metaverse, immersive journalism has become
possible. Immersive journalism is a subcategory of journalism, which uses
augmented reality (AR) technology to immerse the viewers in stories. This
allows the viewer to better understand the meaning of the information and
delve deeper into the narrative setting. The course of storytelling and
reporting are subsequently changed with the interventions from immersive
technologies. Immersive technology has the ability to reconstruct storytelling
and reporting. The Weather Channel (TWC), based on the technologies of
mixed reality, tends to broadcast natural calamities including tornadoes and
floods (Forbes, 2020).
Augmented reality (AR) can give readers a real sense of context and
brings to life topics to the viewers. Without AR tools, viewers won’t be able
to experience such topics and contexts. This renders the viewers of news
with feelings. Virtual reality (VR) enables the reporters to add and strengthen
the scope of reporting. Such technologies are impactful in the domain of
journalism. Precisely, metaverse is an immersive form of storytelling and
interactive communication that could have a profound impact on journalism
and media professionals.
ChatGPT, the latest addition of technological tool in the arena of
communication technologies, has started influencing the domain of
journalism. This AI tool can analyze news articles, social media posts and
other relevant sources to gain a deeper understanding and comprehension of
specific topics. This comprehensive perspective facilitates more detailed
and insightful reporting, enabling journalists to provide their readers with a
deeper understanding of complex issues. This AI tool helps the editors and
reporters understand the news quickly and decide how to cover it at the same
time. For instance, give a long document to ChatGPT and it will find big
topics quickly and apparently reliably. Some newsroom working groups have
developed guidelines and are exploring how journalists can use the chatbots.
This AI tool has implications for everything from teaching and classroom
assignments to journalism and marketing. Suffice to say, we all know from
years of research that people are always using technology in ways the
developers or creators didn’t intend. For the betterment of society,
governments and administrative agencies create rules, laws and regulations
to limit the malicious or dangerous use of technologies (Niemann Institute,
2023). However, the use of ChatGPT has erupted new ethical, legal and
theoretical questions in the arena of production, distribution and consumption
of news.

1.5 Socio-economic and Cultural Dimensions of

Journalism
Journalism is becoming more a business and political term apart from a
popular term in the field of media and communication, especially news
media. News media is being used for shaping up public opinion, which
remains an important factor for democratic countries. Citizens tend to know
the social realities through news content or journalistic productions.
Luhmann (1996, p. 1) has aptly mentioned, “Whatever we know about our
society, or indeed about the world in which we live, we know through the
mass media.” Media, especially news media, has pivotal roles to play in
molding the public opinion. Considered as the fourth pillars of democracy,
media performs the responsibility of awakening the people on social,
economic, political and cultural developments. The agenda of media should
be positive in fostering harmonious development in a given society. In this
context, Santos, Carvalho, and Portugal e Melo (2022, p. 45) assert,
 “The media, therefore, earns the opportunity to perform its
two main duties: to manage contingency with the aim of
reducing the complexity of the social world and to couple
with its environment and with other social systems – for
example, political and public opinion systems.”

Unfortunately, news media is being maliciously employed for the direction of

propaganda. Fake news is increasing day by day. Misinformation and
disinformation are causing damages that are beyond repair. Focus on non-
issues in the form of propaganda is on the rise. News is unnecessarily
politicized. As a result, the news values are increasingly diluted. Social
responsibility of news media is being less prioritized. Journalism keeps on
changing itself with the pressure from political, social and economic
manipulations.
With the changing pattern of media, new players have emerged and
eventually they are challenging the traditional gatekeepers of news media
(Wunsch-Vincent, 2010). Paywalls, a new pattern of news consumption,
could function as deterrents to the public. However, these are inevitable for
financial prosperity in journalism industry. A lead researcher Felix Simon
asserts,

“We see that a growing number of news organisations across

Europe and in the US are trying to find new, sustainable
business models in order to make up for the revenue
shortfall caused by a rapidly changing business
environment. In this context, paywalls are increasingly
popular with publishers, who are challenging the
assumption that people will not pay for digital news. At the
same time, recent research shows that the number of people
willing to pay for news is slowly growing. The challenge for
news organizations now is to deliver such quality content,
and the kind of user experience and convenience that people
have come to expect from digital media, and to market their
 offers to the many who are currently not paying for
journalism, but might do so in the future.”

(Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, n.d.)

Therefore, the issue of paywalls warrants a delicate and comprehensive

solution. Many such situations raise and debate the ethical standards and the
dimensions of media laws globally in the space of journalism and news
media.

1.6 Journalism and Ethical Standards

Ethical journalism occupies a special space in news media. Journalistic
ethics refer to ethics and journalistic practice applicable to news persons or
journalists. The UNESCO declaration (1978) instructed certain guidelines
related to media and journalism (Nordenstreng & Hannikainen, 1984).
Journalists should be honest, skilled, accurate and courageous in terms of
collecting, reporting and interpreting the facts or information. They should
provide the context while delivering the facts. They should collect and
update the information in a continuous manner.
Journalists should have the ability to collect the sources to be used in
news stories. They should provide voice to the voiceless. They should be
vigilant and should try to make the people accountable who possess and
exercise the power. Journalists should act as watchdogs of public affairs and
governmental mechanism to bring and raise the level of transparency. They
should not resort to stereotyping the facts which are to be consumed by the
public. They should not plagiarize, rather adequately attribute in the news
stories. Sometimes, self-regulation is imperative in the profession of
journalism. It could an effective tool in mitigating the issues in news media.
By doing so, journalists can be honest and accountable to the society. Ethical
journalism has the bearing on freedom of journalists who safeguard the
interests of society. However, journalism in contemporary times is suffering
from varied flaws.
The future of journalism and ethics in the era of ChatGPT is debatable.
While this technology can be used to automate the news editing process and
improve the speed and efficiency of news delivery, it poses varied
challenges to the ecology of news industries. As AI-generated content is
increasingly produced, distributed and consumed, the role of journalists and
their responsibility to ensure accuracy, impartiality and ethics has become of
paramount importance in the era of ChatGPT and other AI tools. As a result,
journalism will continue to play an important role in preserving democracy
and serving society.

1.7 Journalism, Yellow Journalism and Fake News

Yellow journalism based on misinformation and disinformation creates a
fabricated scenario of news among the audience. Such a form of journalism
attempts to deceive the news consumption in print, electronic and digital
forms. Sensationalizing the news is the core in yellow journalism. By
extension, the term “yellow journalism” is now used as a derisive word to
criticize any journalism that handles news in an unethical or unprofessional
manner.
Journalism is also suffering from fake news. Wardle (2017) has
comprehensively categorized the fake news. It could be in the form of satire
and/or parody, erroneous connection, deceptive information, erroneous
context, impostor content, manipulating the content and manufactured content.
When false or half-baked information is delivered to the public, it is called
fake news. Through disinformation, false information is getting disseminated.
Disinformation is getting rampant in the time of elections and business
communication worldwide. Misinformation of disinformation equally yields
repercussions on the audience.
With the recent growth of social media outlets, fake news is getting
spiraled. Excessive employment of technologies, political conflicts and
competitions between business entities have infamously contributed to the
increase of fake news. AI techniques are being widely used in manufacturing
digital propaganda. Politicians use every means to win election campaigns.
In addition to technocrats, political advisors and digital strategists are
responsible for the misuse of AI tools. AI tools are being exploited through
old images and videos simply to promote subversive political propaganda
into society. Deepfakes are used in many forms of manipulation using AI and
machine learning tools. Deepfakes, also known as synthetic media, can be
used to blackmail anyone. Extremist and hateful speech on online platforms
is a growing challenge for democratic societies around the world, and in this
digital age, misinformation and hate intersect on social media.
AI technology carries the ugly risk of generating and amplifying extreme
hate speech. Extremist statements on online platforms can pose a threat to
democratic societies around the world. The use of AI is not only heavily
used for extreme language, but it is also used to reinforce extreme language.
The output of algorithms can be inaccurate in all cases if applied blindly
without checking. Certain ethical issues that are not properly managed are on
the rise. As social media takes over the world, disinformation campaigns,
fake news and hacking are getting rampant. AI tools have created more room
for disinformation and more room for hacking. Automated hacking is also
increasing day by day. AI and machine learning are used to launch
cyberattacks against computer systems. This can lead to physical attacks from
antisocial elements. Criminals, terrorists and others with bad intentions can
abuse AI tools for disinformation and hacking.
AI tools can do wonders and this could be malicious too. With the
assistance of AI tools, people’s faces can turn into celebrities and make it
look like they’re supposed to say things they never said. Now, you can find
that many of your friends’ faces available on social media platforms have
turned into faces of Bollywood or Hollywood heroes or heroines. Several
social media users apply Lensa AI for selfies. The users also use AI tools to
manufacture pictures in varied elegances. Lensa AI takes selfies of you,
inspects them and creates machine-based pictures of you or anyone that you
or someone can feed into social media outlets (The New York Times, 2022).
Use of AI tools in the field of journalism is a double-edged sword. It can
be a boon to the professional present in the news industry. Needless to say,
fake news is a constant threat to the truth. However, the scale of fake news on
digital platforms is proving to be deadly in digital discourse, with citizens
worldwide falling prey to deception. In this context, AI tools have proven to
help mitigate the threat of fake news. Tools such as The Factual, Check,
Logically, Full Fact, Fabula AI, Grover, Sensity AI, ClaimBuster, Adverif.ai,
Alto Analytics, Blackbird AI, Defudger and Bot Sentinel can examine the
negative impact of misinformation and disinformation (Trustedweb, n.d.).
 Enabled by AI systems, The Factual checks the authenticity of messages.
It also helps to check and verify the credibility of journalists and news
sources as well. Check, a fact-checking tool, has customizable checking
platform options. It also has the ability to arrange information types based on
the users’ needs and requirements by flagging incorrect information.
Logically, you can check the facts and images in our free mobile app. The
tool leverages the AI technology to further assist the human fact-checkers and
provide faster service. Full Fact, a fact-checking tool that is inherently
automated by AI, can detect fake news. Based on AI tool, Fabula AI seeks to
contain the threat of fake news by detecting disinformation patterns on the
internet. Grover is an algorithm-based tool that checks for fake news by
filtering the language of posts. Language verification also combats
misinformation and disinformation. Equipped with a specific system, Sensity
AI attempts to detect deepfakes that are wildly used in reputational attacks,
fake press and many other fraudulent activities. ClaimBuster is a fact-
checking tool that can check text and written content. The tool is also
equipped with advanced political discussion monitoring mechanisms.
Adverif.ai is an AI tool that detects fake advertisements for users. After
checking and detecting inappropriate content, it also notifies users about fake
content. Alto Analytics can detect disinformation and deepfakes. Blackbird
AI is an AI tool that detects fake content used by governments and private
organizations on social media platforms. AI-based Defudgers attempt to
inspect visual content such as videos and images. Using blockchain
technology, this fact-checking tool tends to approve original visual content.
Bot Sentinel, an AI tool leverages the power of AI and machine learning to
more accurately detect fake content on social media. It goes without saying
that curbing the negative effects of fake news has started affecting the media
ecosystem.

1.8 Artificial Intelligence, Audience and Media

Analytics
Understanding the audience and analytics remain of paramount importance in
the field of journalism. AI tools have much to do in this context. The advent
of digital technology in news production has increasingly intertwined with
click-based and editorial goals, enabling news outlets to measure audience
behavior and engagement in real time. Constant advances in AI tools are
allowing the editors to engage audiences in newsrooms with dedicated tools
like Chartbeat and Google Analytics.
With digital transition and monetizing the news contents, journalists have
started using AI tools to measure the number and nature of audience. Founded
in 2008, Social Blade assembles the data from various social media outlets,
which further helps in creating statistical analysis. This statistical analysis is
instrumental in registering one’s development. Usually, the data and
statistical analysis enable the organizations to predict and assess the curve of
growth. This platform has over 630,000 unique visitors each month. Social
Blade supports the clients through multiple channels. The organization
entertains the questions of users and provides customized response to them
(Social Blade, n.d.).
Social Blade provides all users access to public database. This database
uses cutting-edge technology to provide global analytics for any sort of
content creators, live streamer or brand. Whether you are looking for a
popular YouTube creator or Twitch streamer playing a particular game,
Social Blade has the reach. The organization is constantly striving to expand
our functionality to give our users the best possible experience. It helps rate
videos, find impact and help in growing one’s channel. Social Blade, at
present, follows YouTube, Twitter and other social media platforms. With the
help of data, this platform attempts to foster a sense of belongingness through
the creation and use of social media posts, newsletters and bloggings. The
organization’s website and homepage regularly feature one’s up-and-coming
YouTube creators. It attends industry events and host meetings to bring the
online community into his third dimension (Social Blade, 2008–2023).
One may see multiple different numbers because views can vary between
video watch pages, search pages and analytics. Thankfully, there’s a clear
explanation as to why these view counts seem different. YouTube Analytics
allows the brands to better monitor video viewing with real-time activity
metrics. This number differs from video watch pages and search pages
because it provides an estimate of potential viewing activity based on video
history. This is possible thanks to AI tools. AI assists the brands to market
their products and services on social media outlets. AI tools also help to
creatively target the audience. One can mechanize the control of one’s
contents including news on social media platforms. And it supports most of
what you see on certain social networks. Social media posting and
engagement are a core part of most companies’ digital marketing strategies,
and AI can help them do better than ever. As AI tools learn from the data, one
can know and act upon who is the target audience and who can buy or
subscribe to your product or services with your customized messages.
Facebook uses progressive machine learning serving content to
recognizing faces in photographs to navigating the users with ads. Instagram
employs AI tools to identify visual elements. LinkedIn uses AI to suggest job
postings and attempts to engage a community with other communities.
Snapchat harnesses the influence of computer visualization. AI technology
assists one to search for facial features that fit to one’s face (Marketing AI
Research Institute, 2022).

1.9 Journalism and Freedom Index of Journalists

The freedom index of journalism is a connected sphere in the realm of
journalism. The World Press Freedom Day observed on May 3 endorses and
supports media in the direction of press freedom. It reflects the fundamental
principles of press freedom. World Press Freedom Day has been observed
with the announcement from UN General Assembly (UNESCO, 2022b). The
importance of press freedom is required for several reasons. The theme of
press freedom has been observed since 1998. The themes of press freedom
in 2021 and 2022 have been on “Information as a public good” and
“Journalism under digital siege” (United Nations, 2022). The theme
highlights how journalism is under increasing threat. Unnecessary
surveillance can cause damage to the safety of journalists by revealing
sensitive private information. Freedom of journalism reflects the spirit of
democracy, which deserves further discussion.

1.10 Journalism, Freedom of Press and Democracy

Freedom of journalism remains imperative for a vibrant democracy.
Journalism and democracy are related to each other. For this purpose, each
and every year, press freedom index is being measured. Reporters Without
Borders (RSF) points out that World Press Freedom in 2021 in blocked in
73% of the 180 countries. RSF recommends that journalism is the vaccine
against fake news and disinformation. The index data argue that people’s
connection to information is on the declining mode. The COVID-19 was
unfortunately used as a reason to limit access to information. In this context,
Reporters Without Borders (n.d.) points outs,

“the journalistic production and distribution are too often

blocked by political, economic, technological and,
sometimes, even cultural factors. In response to the virality
of disinformation across borders, on digital platforms and
via social media, journalism provides the most effective
means of ensuring that public debate is based on a diverse
range of established facts.”

Journalism acts as a source of information or facts in a deliberative model of

democracy. Democracy immensely contributes to the functioning of good
governance (McNair, 2009). Besides the role of media in a deliberative
democracy, journalism acts as a watchdog of administrative mechanism; as a
mediator/representative between the government and public; and as an
advocate or champion of the people. However, the factors like
commercialization, the crisis in public communication; origin and rise of
political public relations; and hyper adversarial are causing malfunctions in
the role of media in a democratic set-up. If there is no adequate amount of
freedom of press, then the quality of journalism won’t exist. If the quality of
journalism is not there, then democracy cannot be attained or the freedom of
people will be paralyzed.
Sonwalkar (2019, p. 62) has rightly enunciated,

“Journalism does not exist in isolation but is part of a

complex matrix of politics, economy and socio-cultural
environment in a democratic society. The obvious response
to the second part would be for the idea, ideology, and
idealism of journalism to be allowed to go back to the basics
 so that it can diligently perform its traditional role. But to
what extent it can do so when powerful political, business,
and cultural forces steer it to partisan extremes is open to
debate.”

In order to serve the public interest, journalism includes gathering, analyzing

and disseminating information. For this reason, it is a profession that strongly
values social responsibility toward the public, effective leadership and
democracy. However, the approach to deal with the freedom of press and
democracy is different in mainstream and alternative media.

1.11 Mainstream Journalism vs. Alternative

Journalism
Alternative journalism is a kind of journalism which has evolved and
challenges to the news coverage in the mainstream media. It provides a space
for alternative voice against the mainstream voice (Harcup, 2020). Atton and
Hamilton (2008, p. 1) assert,

“Its critique emphasizes alternatives to, inter alia,

conventions of news sources and representation; the
inverted pyramid of news texts; the hierarchical and
capitalized economy of commercial journalism; the
professional, elite basis of journalism as a practice; the
professional norm of objectivity; and the subordinate role of
audience as receiver.”

Deuze (2006, p. 263) defines alternative media as the “emergence of all

kinds of community, alternative, oppositional, participatory and
collaborative media practices.”
Alternative platforms of journalism provide alternative public sphere
which is inclusive in nature (Atton, 2002). Such form of public sphere
embraces advocacy and oppositional practices over mainstream and
dominant practices. The supporters of alternative media claim that the
mainstream media invites shortcomings in approach. Such form of media
outlets promote advocacy journalism and often endorse specific political
views, often dissident views. Such form of journalism has fostered local
journalism. However, there are growing ethical concerns in practicing local
journalism, which erases the boundaries between the facts and opinion.
Alternative media is existent in various forms including rural journalism,
which attempts to cover the issues of rural regions. Focusing on rural issues
through rural journalism signals one form of development journalism.

1.12 Rural Journalism: A Neglected Area

Rural journalism is a less talked area in the domain of journalism. Even in a
country like India where 64.61 percent of its population resides in rural
pockets of India (Trading Economics, 2022), the news on rural issues is least
prioritized. Rural journalism in India remains in a precarious condition.
Rural issues, especially the farmers’ issues, are often romanticized. Such
issues are being commoditized and manufactured.
The coverage on rural regions in Indian media remains skewed in
proportion to news on urban pockets. Suffice to say, news media is urban-
based and biased, which is facing flak from time to time from civil society.
The journalists who are working in so-called mainstream media are not
skilled in reporting in rural areas. Many times, the coverage on rural issues
is episodic in approach, which is heavily criticized by the civil society. The
problems of rural India are in a precarious condition, which warrants
sustained coverage. Sometimes, there are success stories in rural regions.
Those cases news media need to highlight in a pragmatic manner. Media in
highlighting the success stories will foster the pace of rural development, but
in vain.
The space for grassroots communication in mainstream media remains
shoddy (Biswal, 2018). The political economy of news media clearly opens
up the systematic flaws in the coverage. Even though rural India has been
reeling under several issues, they are not being considered as newsworthy.
Social responsibility of media had reduced to minimum. Issues pertaining to
primary education, basic healthcare facilities, agriculture and credit facilities
remain grave, which needs to be amicably addressed. However at the same
time, news media is being engaged in irrelevant and personalized coverage
relating to politics, cinema and social taboos. To bridge the gap, few
alternative media platforms like Khabar Lahariya, Gaon Connection, CGNet
Swara and People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) are attempting to do
justice in terms of media coverage. However, these news media outlets have
their own shortcomings. They are not financially viable. They do not have
adequate journalists who can potentially cover the rural issues from time to
time.

1.13 Concluding Remarks

The journey of journalism from the era of stone carving to ChatGPT, an AI
tool, remains thoughtful. In due course of time, the nature and implications of
journalism have been substantially changed. It is becoming more significant
but less robust. In contemporary times, the increasing knowledge disparity,
struggling journalism business models and the function of social media
platforms are the new symptoms of news media outlets. Precisely, there are
technological implications on the production, distribution and consumption of
news over a period of time.
We are experiencing a number of major shifts in news media. We have
transitioned from a world where media organizations served as gatekeepers
to one where media organizations are setting the agenda. However, media
outlet continues to control audience access. The nature and dissemination of
news are changing on regular intervals. The production, distribution and
consumption of fair news are influenced by several factors. Of many,
political and economic factors are immensely influencing the news industry.
The above-mentioned trends will manifest themselves in various ways in the
upcoming years across the world depending on the cultural, economic,
political and social situation.
As an industry and a profession, journalism today is marked by an ever-
increasing turbulence and change, both good and bad. Deep changes impact
each and a feature of the organization, such as the state of journalism's
financial health, the circumstances its practitioners’ self-understandings, its
capacity to operate as a monitor on consensus, tractions of power, its
interaction with and regard for its audience and its potential for the future
aspects. One way to think about this new and dynamic biosphere is as a
special constellation of opportunities and difficulties. However, journalism
is often criticized as it has reduced from watchdog to lapdog. It is also facing
flak as it is urban-based and urban-biased. It is accused of over-
commercialization. The social responsibility of journalism is weathering
away.
Collaborations are becoming more common in journalism. Algo-
journalism or algorithm-based journalism is a newly technical affair, which
needs collaborations among the journalists and technical experts to start the
process. Again, since metaverse is a new term in the field of journalism, it
also demands collaborations from cross-sectional communities. Journalism
has traversed from mainstream to alternatives. Transparency is becoming a
question mark in the domain of news. The future of journalism lies in news
skills with traditional values. Sticking to objective reporting and editorial
standards is the first step in building trust among the audience of news.
Transparent publishing is the future of journalism (Forbes, 2021). Newly
trained journalists must grasp a variety of publishing formats in our ever-
evolving environment while still excelling at the fundamentals of journalism.
Jonathan Baker, the author of Essential Journalism, discusses the
significance of conventional journalistic values in the digital age in his blog
post.
The future of journalism is dependent on independent creators and active
communities (Di Salvo, 2020). The COVID-19 economic downturn had a
significant impact on the media sector, but it also spurred digitalization and
encouraged journalists to work independently as content creators.
Correspondents now have access to previously unheard-of methods of
monetizing their close connections with audiences because of the growth of
various digital platforms. This mechanism enables the journalists to create
engaged communities. Independent and small-scale journalism can flourish in
a content-driven environment dominated by naive podcasters and YouTubers,
opening up new possibilities for cross-collaboration. With the increasing use
of artificial intelligence and the introduction of metaverse, independent
creators and active communities can evolve in the space of journalism. The
traditional role of media has changed with the arrival of artificial
intelligence and metaverse.
 Digital transition is happening every other day. Very recently, technologies
used for virtual and meta influencer are being discussed. Computer-generated
imagery (CGI), based on computer graphics, is coming in a big way. If used
properly, it may influence news industry in the future. The digital transition
could result in a significant and long-lasting change in how news is reported
and disseminated to the audience. Some of the journalists are maximally
exploiting the power of digital media for content creations. At the same time,
social media outlets like Facebook are flourishing on the archetypal of
content-sharing. Therefore, both the journalists and the platforms use AI tools
for the production, distribution and consumption of news.
The development of journalism comprising the journey and experience
from stone carving to ChatGPT has been significant. The central role of
technologies in shaping the craft and pace of journalism cannot be
underestimated. Journalism has been changed from a creative platform to
entrepreneur entity. The standalone profession has been turned to a
participatory format. Sometimes, content is the king and sometimes audience
control the content and medium. In a nutshell, the ecosystem of news industry
keeps on changing. The nature and pace of growth of journalism is sometimes
unbridled, unpredictable and beyond measure. At the same time, the debates
and deliberations over misinformation and disinformation in the domain of
journalism will be there in the industry as well in academics to make
journalism better than before.

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2 Understanding Artificial
Intelligence
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-2

2.1 Characteristics of Natural Intelligence

Intelligence is necessarily characterized by certain attributes that every living
creature possesses. These attributes are essentially perception, reasoning,
inference, learning, imitation/mimicking /following, creativity and
adaptation. Perception refers to the understanding of the environment or
getting insights of certain situations. This is generally possible using the
intellectual capability and ability achieved through different senses such as
ears, eyes, nose, tongue, skin, haptic, past experiences, existing knowledge
and a combination of the situational awareness. For example, if few people
with their eyes blindfolded are allowed to touch only one part of the
elephant, then based on their haptic sense as well as past experience, existing
knowledge, the one who touches only the trunk may perceive it as a hose or a
snake, someone who touches only the leg may perceive it as a tree trunk or an
elephant, someone may touch the tail and perceive it as a rope, someone who
touches the ears may perceive it as a fan, belly as a wall, tusks as spears, etc.
Eventually, if all of the pieces such as snake, tree trunk, rope, fan, spears,
wall, etc., are given the corresponding positions, then all these elements may
constitute a picture like an elephant, which is eventually perceived by
sensors such as eyes as well as the existing knowledge of how an elephant
generally looks like. The characteristic of reasoning is the ability to find the
logical reasons behind or possible facts responsible for a certain fact. This is
done through backward chaining by which facts are linked with one another.
For example, the diagnosis of a disease is possible when the medical
practitioner links the symptoms with the possible causes, similar cases in the
history, patient’s history, etc. This is basically finding similar patterns even
though some of the information is fuzzy or missing. It helps in reaching
certain meaningful conclusions or drawing meaningful inferences. This helps
in classifying the cases, as well as data available to a very minute level so
that when similar case arises in the future, it can be dealt with certain
confidence.
In addition, every individual intends to learn from one another to be better
in the race. Learning ability is one of the major characteristics of a living
individual. This makes them compete in the race for survival as well as
evolve. Learning is possible through adaptation to the environment around as
well as mimicking the behavior of others and/or superiors. For example, kids
not only inherently learn from their parents but also from their peers. It makes
them grow and be competent. In addition, the chameleon adapts to the
environment around by changing to such a skin color that may help it to
disguise. It eventually increases its chances of survival from the predators as
well as helps it reach closer to the prey. Similar examples can be found in
different other species such as the camel. Over the years, it has developed its
feet wider so that it is suitable to walk on the sandy desert. In addition, the
legs have grown taller so as to keep the body at a height from the hot sand of
the desert. This adaptation has increased their chances of survival in the
sandy and hot habitat. Furthermore, plants once part of lush green forest have
over the period of millions of years, turned into cactus, the leaves of which
turned into spines for moisture collection as well as reducing the rate of
exhaling and increasing protection. Every species on the earth keeps
evolving generation after generation to survive and flourish.
As mentioned earlier, Darwin’s theory of the “Survival of the Fittest” is at
the heart of all these natural characteristics. These have been adopted and
mathematically modeled by several researchers. Later, with the advent of
computers with memories, mathematical models were coded in computer
languages making the systems think and solve problems.

2.2 Origin of Artificial Intelligence

Since the first Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries, the
concept of automation was also incepted. Moreover, the market-driven
industry and economies invested huge efforts in making the machines and
industries more automated. After World War II, the industry and academia
were focusing their research on numerically controlled machines as well as
robotics-driven automation. The concept of robotics or human-like machines
was limiting the idea of the development of machines that can think. The
computers in the decade after World War II were too expensive for the
universities and industries to afford and importantly the computers had no
memory. This limited most of the applications or problem-solving capability.
Later in 1956, John McCarthy organized the eight-week Dartmouth Summer
Project workshop in Dartmouth College, Hanover, the USA, where renowned
scientist, mathematicians, professors and economists from all over the world
were called to churn out machines that can think (Jmc, n.d.). The workshop
intended to come up with ideas that can break the barrier of merely making
the robots work like humans. During the workshop, John McCarthy coined
the term referred to as artificial intelligence (AI). With the advent of
computer memories soon after the workshop, several industries and
universities look lead in developing AI-based methods and computer
programs. The Japanese Fifth Generation Project a national-level initiative
was the driver in growing and flourishing AI in Japan as well as producing a
fleet of thousands of young and intelligent scientists. They served not only for
the Japanese technology to grow but also gave a direction for the entire
world to progress.
Since the early 1990s and later, computers started becoming cheaper with
the increase of storage space that almost doubled every couple of years. This
helped several university professors, scientists and research students to study
and implement intelligence in nature in the form of computer coding. Several
heuristic and intelligent algorithms inspired from natural entities and
phenomenon were mathematically modeled and coded on several computing
platforms. For example, the bio-inspired algorithms such as genetic
algorithm (GA) (Holland, 1992; Goldberg, 1989), differential evolution
(DE) (Kulkarni, Krishnasamy, & Abraham, 2017), artificial immune systems,
artificial neural networks (ANN) (Kulkarni et al., 2017), swarms algorithms
are ant colony optimization (ACO) methods (Dorigo, 1992), particle swarm
optimization (PSO) methods (Kennedy & Eberhart, 1995), firefly algorithm
(FA) (Deshpande, Phatnani, & Kulkarni, 2013), socio-inspired methods are
cohort intelligence (CI) (Kulkarni et al., 2017), league championship
algorithm (LCA) (Husseinzadeh Kashan, 2014), etc., are to mention a few.
These algorithms are necessarily artificial versions of the natural intelligence
associated with living creatures. It is important to mention that as real-world
problems are becoming more interdisciplinary and their complexity is
growing. The limited ability of the traditional methods dealing with the
complex nonlinear problems gave rise to the use of AI-based methods as they
could handle such problems more efficiently.

2.3 General Applications of Artificial Intelligence

Since then, AI methods have been quite successfully applied in numerous
applications such as transportation and supply chain management, healthcare,
manufacturing, wildlife conservation, crime prevention, pollution control,
smart homes, waste management, traffic control, journalism, etc. The
problem of efficient transportation of vehicle fleet management is based on
the delivery dates, locations, distances from the origin point to the
destinations, cost, etc., is quite a complex problem involving several
thousand variables and is solved using techniques such as GA (Arokia Durai
Raj & Rajendran, 2012). The efficient doctors’ assignments to the surgery
rooms so as to minimize the maximum resource requirement in the recovery
rooms is solved considering static and dynamic scenario (Kulkarni, Baki, &
Chaouch, 2016; Li, Zhu, Baki, & Chaouch, 2018). The companies such as
Bin-E have come up with machine learning application, which helps in
sorting the waste in the bins based on certain criteria of degradable,
nondegradable, etc. (Bin-e, n.d.). The mobile-based Wastebox application
helps the construction site rubble get cleared time to time by automatically
assigning the dumpers in the close neighborhood (Wastebox, n.d.). It saves
huge costs and keeps the site cleaner. Zen Robotics is one of the leading
waste segregation companies. It sorts or segregates different types of waste
based on intelligent image-processing tool (Zenrobotics, n. d.). Winnow
Solutions in the UK identifies the type of food wasted using intelligent
machine learning image-processing tools. It gives the restaurant manager
ideas about the kind and amount of food wasted (Winnowsolutions, n. d.).
Google Waymo is an example of driverless car, which analyzes the traffic
situations in 360 degrees and decides the speed and direction reaching the
destination (Waymo, n. d.). These are very few applications of the AI
methods and approaches in day-to-day life. This book focuses on an entirely
new aspect of AI application for media and journalism.

References
Arokia Durai Raj, K. A., & Rajendran, C. (2012). A genetic algorithm for
solving the fixed-charge transportation model: Two-stage problem.
Computers & Operations Research, 39(9), 2016–2032.
Bin-e. (n.d.). https://www.bine.world/ (Last visited: June 15, 2022)
Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural
selection (1st ed.). London: John Murray.
Deshpande, A. M., Phatnani, G. M., & Kulkarni, A. J. (2013, June 13–15).
Constraint handling in firefly algorithm. In Proceedings of IEEE
international conference on cybernetics (pp. 186–190). Lausanne,
Switzerland.
Dorigo, M. (1992). Optimization, learning and natural algorithms (PhD
thesis). Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Goldberg, D. (1989). Genetic algorithms in search, optimization and
machine learning. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Professional.
Holland, J. (1992). Adaptation in natural and artificial systems.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Husseinzadeh Kashan, A. (2014). League championship algorithm (LCA):
An algorithm for global optimization inspired by sport championships.
Applied Soft Computing, 16, 171–200.
Jmc. (n.d.). http://jmc.stanford.edu/ (Last visited: June 15, 2022)
Kennedy, J., & Eberhart, R. (1995). Particle swarm optimization. In
Proceedings of IEEE international conference on neural networks, 4
1942–1948).
Kulkarni, A. J., Baki, M. F., & Chaouch, B. A. (2016). Application of the
cohort-intelligence optimization method to three selected combinatorial
optimization problems. European Journal of Operational Research,
250(2), 427–447.
Kulkarni, A. J., Krishnasamy, G., & Abraham, A. (2017). Cohort
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3 From Stone Carving to ChatGPT

Understanding the Changing Role of

Technologies in Journalism
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-3

3.1 Introduction
Technology is closely related to the discipline of communication. The history
of communication has shared its space with the tools of technologies from
time to time. Communication technologies have transformed the profession of
journalism from intervention of stone carving to the ChatGPT crossing the
phases of telegraph, telephone, radio, television, artificial intelligence,
blockchain and metaverse. So, technologies have not been isolated
compartments whenever there are deliberations on technologies used in the
field of media and communication. Needless to say, the pivotal role of
technologies cannot be denied. However, sometimes excessive employment
of technologies draws flaks from several quarters of society including the
domain of journalism. In this context, holistic understanding of technologies
and their exposure in the space of journalism has become paramount. This
calls for an understanding of technologies from larger perspectives.

3.2 Technology in Journalism

The impact of technology is present in every aspect of professional lives.
And journalism is no exception. COVID-19 that caused lockdowns and other
restrictions have forced the stage of journalism for rapid digital change.
Moreover, the troubled times have sparked more radical experimentations.
Focus on sustainable innovation has emerged. Email has fueled and given
rise to entrepreneurial journalism. New platforms like Substack, TinyLetter,
Lede or Ghost are technologically driven and showing a new roadmap for
journalistic narratives. The pandemic has pushed for faster change toward an
all-digital future (Newman, 2021). Technological innovations have
revolutionized the industry of media and communication, especially the field
of journalism. There are other factors – increasing role of social media in
news dissemination; evolution and rise of chat bots in social media; robots
turning into reporters; 360° content on news reports; and virtual reality (VR)
becoming apparent in news dissemination – where technology has larger role
in the field of journalism.
Discussing the role of technologies in the domain of journalism navigates
scholars to revisit the communication revolution. Technological innovations
in the field of journalism is nothing but a form of communication revolution.

3.3 Revisiting Communication Revolution

The role of technology in the revolution of communication has been immense
and it has brought numerous deliberations across the disciplines. The journey
of communication revolution from smoke signals to ChatGPT has its own
story, and each and every part of such revolution has evoked unique
discussions. In ancient times, certain kind of hammers and skills used to be
employed for stone carving which was further used for communicating varied
messages. Carey (1965) points out that western countries in the 18th and 19th
centuries encountered the waves of the revolutions – the Industrial
Revolution and communication revolution.
Taking the case of communication revolution in India, Singhal and Rogers
(2001) confirm that Indian society has undergone social changes with the
advent of new communication technologies. They further stress on the role of
government and private enterprise, technology parks and the internet
revolution which mobilized the pace of social change and development.
Understanding and remeasuring information society is of importance while
revisiting communication revolution on a global scale.
3.4 Role of Technologies in Print, Electronic and
Digital Journalism
Over the decades, journalism has been ceaselessly going through major
transformations. The implications of technologies are apparent in the practice
of journalism covering the production, distribution and consumption patterns
of news contents. Technological changes have influenced the areas pertaining
to the journalists’ work profiles, the content of news, structure and functions
of the newsrooms and relationship or interaction between news organizations
and news consumers. Further, Seethaler (2017) finds that the adoption of
technologies in newsrooms has affected the news business models. The
paywall strategy of news business models is one of the most striking business
patterns. This has ultimately caused the working journalists in the state of
overloaded and pressure.

3.4.1 Print Media and Journalism

Communication revolution started in the field of newspaper with the
development of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in the 14th century
(Koch, 1991). Pavlik (2000, p. 229) has rightly quoted,

“Journalism has always been shaped by technology. Since

Julius Caesar ordered the Acta Diurna in AD 59, distributing
information about the important events of the day has been
enabled, if not often driven, by technological advances.
Gutenberg’s printing press not only made possible the
printing of the Bible and other religious texts; it also laid the
foundation for mass literacy and the invention of the
newspaper.”

Of course, the printing technologies have been transformed over the years
and the level of automation has been increasingly incorporated. It was
followed by the invention of the telegraph and the evolution of photography.
Photography remains an important tool for a journalist. Digital camera has
further innovated the pace and dynamics of print journalism. With the advent
of computers, print journalism has further undergone drastic changes. Word
processors have enabled the reporters and the subeditors who are engaged
with newspapers and magazines. Internet publishing of newspapers and
magazines has been the latest addition in terms of technological innovations
in the field of print journalism. E-newspapers and e-magazines are being
widely accepted by news consumers across the globe. Consumers’
involvement is getting redefined with each passing day. Newspapers’
websites are facilitating news consumers to comment on news contents in
various social media networks and engagement with the audience is
increasingly prioritized.

3.4.2 Electronic Media and Journalism

Like print journalism, electronic journalism has been witnessing the adoption
of numerous technological innovations from time to time. Instances revealed
that radio has adapted to newer technologies. Radio stations have gradually
turned to online streaming and podcasts which is becoming more convenient
for smartphones. Acceptance of television cannot be ignored. Technology has
changed the face of cable and satellite television. ATS-3.0 is the latest
broadcasting innovation which provides top-quality interactive experience to
customers (Dialani, 2020). As news consumers continue to access various
online platforms, it is imperative for the television journalists to meet the
consumers’ needs and demands.

3.4.3 Digital Media and Journalism

Digital media have created a space in the field of journalism. Digital media
technologies have influenced the nature and format of journalistic narratives
over the years. It is worth discussing mobile journalism, multimedia
journalism, podcast journalism, immersive journalism, social media
journalism and usages of artificial intelligence, 5G, blockchain, metaverse
and ChatGPT while deliberating on digital media technologies in the space
of journalism.

3.4.3.1 Mobile Journalism

Audiences have increasingly used mobile for news consumption. The
situation has also changed. The technological convergence of mobile
emerged in the 1990s. However, the proliferation of the Internet and
touchscreen mobiles propelled legacy news media houses to repurpose or
customize journalistic contents (Westlund, 2013). Mobile journalism
(MOJO) is a journalistic revolution which demands a renewed and
pragmatic approach to skills for the news industry (Salzmann, Guribye, &
Gynnild, 2021). In order to tap this platform, the BBC has developed its
Portable News Gathering (PNG) which facilitates recording, editing and
required things for multimedia format of storytelling (WNIP, 2021). News
media houses with cross-media portfolios are being hugely benefited.
Moreover, ample of use of mobile phone has fueled the growth and prospects
of citizen journalism around the globe. It has democratized media contents
and created a space in the domain of alternative media. MOJO has fostered
the sense of participatory journalism in which citizens are the mainstay in the
production, distribution and consumption of news contents. It has been able
to curb the monopoly of so-called mainstream media and posed a threat to the
functioning and revenue patterns of mainstream media.
Precisely, with the rapid evolution of technology and online publishing,
mobile journalism has grown to the next level. Such form of journalism has
fueled the convergence form of journalism which has further transformed the
production, dissemination and consumption of news contents. It reflects the
radical structural changes in the journalism industry. News through mobile
remains the principal of the digital media network. It has further strengthened
the digital culture. Stalder (2018, p. 22) has rightly enunciated, “the space of
networks, communities, and informal cooperation—the space of sharing and
exchange that has since been enabled by the emergence of ubiquitous digital
communication” as a “new interstitial space”.
MOJO is getting popular in the domain of news media as it’s a new way
of storytelling. It is free from much security hassle. Subjects or people are
least intimidated. Such form of journalism is getting widely accepted because
of its advantage of mobility. Journalists are no longer waiting for OB van for
the live programs. Adopting this form of journalism is also curtailing the
production costs by avoiding ENG cameras and OB vans. However, MOJO
suffers from certain shortcomings. Mobile journalists are sometimes
perceived as “a burden” and as being “the harbinger of changes to come”
(Perreault & Stanfield, 2019, p. 339). Hadland, Borges-Rey and Cameron
(2019, p. 18) point out, “The journalists might face the problems in
integrating the new technologies for the output required for the newsrooms
and usually it happens due to “professional journalists’ ambivalence to new
technologies”.

3.4.3.2 Multimedia Journalism

Since media convergence is a multi-dimensional concept, it invites numerous
disciplines for deliberations. And the discipline of journalism is no
exception to it. Journalism is not a motionless occupation and the news
media are constantly evolving. The content and organization of news are also
evolving. The practice of multimedia journalism enables the distribution of
news contents by using two or more media formats (Deuze, 2004). Smith
(2014) points out multimedia journalism is the mixture of computing and
information technology, communication networks and digitized media
content. The rapid and sustained pace of technological development has
propelled multimedia journalism to the next level (Kartveit, 2020). It is
invariably pertaining to the media convergence which is an amalgamation of
multiple media platforms. It has challenged the traditional modus operandi of
production and distribution of news contents. It is somewhat treated as a
transformation in information and communication.
Multimedia format of journalism creates and intensifies the experience of
immersion among the audience. The distinctive features of text, image, video,
audio and graphic animations boost the narrative techniques which are part
and partial of multimedia journalism. The integration of all these features is
enabling the smooth functioning of storytelling in the field of journalism, the
narrative form of information is well accepted among the audience.
Usually, journalists are the storytellers. The rise of multimedia journalism
has given birth to digital storytelling. Multimedia journalists are the ones
who work across many dimensions. They tend to use the combinations of
text, images, sound, video and graphics. Multimedia storytelling on various
social media platforms has transformed the level of interactive and
engagement face which has further enlarged the scope of journalism. Such
forms of telling news stories brings and enhances the journalists’ own
narratives to the events. As a result, such forms of digital convergence adds
to the news values.
Multimedia journalism and digital storytelling are interrelated. Digital
storytelling is the marriage between journalism and digital technologies.
Many a time, digital storytelling is in visual storytelling which is becoming
more apparent. Writing, editing and designing have become integral parts of
visual storytelling. Video, infographics and other visual elements are driving
forces which further influence the nature and pace of visual storytelling. It
has somewhat disrupted the usual form of storytelling. Leading news media
organizations are exceptionally good in this format in terms of news
dissemination. The adoption of the fusion of news and creative design is
grabbing the eyeballs of news consumers, especially the younger generations.
This has further reshaped digital journalism to be sharper and poignant in
contemporary times. Interactive journalism has been progressively felt and it
has further customized accordingly to capture the audience’ market.
However, journalists are frightened that news storytelling format can bring
dilution in disseminating the facts. In this context, Boesman and Costera
Meijer (2018, p. 6) argue,

“Some journalists are afraid that storytelling will bring

Hollywood in journalism. In Hollywood, everything is
devoted to storytelling. Even if a story is based on true facts,
those facts are transformed if they do not fit the story. And
that is what a lot of people are afraid of: that the facts in
journalism will also be moulded into a form that fits within a
certain story structure. That is of course not the intention.”

To some, journalists have landed in a worse situation to cope with the

anxiety between storytelling and truth-seeking in journalism. As of now, it
remains a debatable topic.

3.4.3.3 Podcast and Journalism

A podcast, also known as audioblogs, comprises a series of spoken word
digital audio files for the purpose of listening. Pew Research Centre (2006)
asserts,

“podcasting is a way to distribute audio and video

programming over the Web that differs from earlier online
audio and video publishing because the material is
automatically transferred to the user’s computer and can be
consumed at any time, usually on an Apple iPod or another
kind of portable digital music player commonly known as
an MP3 player.”

The narrative podcasts have created a niche in the space of digital literary
journalism (McHugh, 2021). Some of the news podcasts have a wider reach
than newspapers and television channels. Usually, podcasts are intimate in
nature which captivates the listeners. Journalists are found using this medium
to create and showcase their personal brands to their target audience. It acts
as a democratic alternative to radio and an individual with microphone could
make his/her voice heard. Moreover, through this medium, they are able to
create and engage their target audience in hyper-specialized journalism. In
this context, Chan-Olmsted and Wang (2020, p.13) have rightly argued,
“Podcasting is, at its core, about content and a unique way of delivering that
content on demand, as entertainment, information, and audio platform
superiority were found to be the three most important motivators”.
The production, distribution and consumption of quality content in
podcasts can be a potential reason for niche journalism. It has further
promising avenues for entrepreneurs and adequate business projects. In this
context, the feasibility and possibility of native podcasts in journalism is the
larger question which needs to be scientifically probed. Native news
podcasts are aimed at the interests of local audience. Needless to say, the
importance and interests of the local audience are increasingly prioritized in
contemporary times.
However, the use of podcast suffers from certain shortcomings. Newman
and Gallo (2020, p. 34) point out,

“For legacy print and digital-born publishers, news podcasts

represent a different dilemma. It is easier to embrace new
 thinking and create entirely new formats, but the
infrastructure and skills need to be built from scratch. That
requires considerable investment which, at a time of
declining revenue, in the middle of a global pandemic,
requires both commitment and nerve.”

Nevertheless, the use of podcast is getting positioned as an alternative media

which can address the topics which remain unaddressed by the mainstream
media. The trailblazer for this unique form of journalism with a different
format of storytelling has become a reliable revenue stream for news media
outlets.

3.4.3.4 Immersive Journalism

Immersive journalism is an emerging style in news media industry. Such form
of journalism places the audience in the context of the happening or event.
Immersive journalism permits the audience to enter virtually into the event by
representing the story (Johnson, 2020). Since news consumption is
undergoing transformations because of the arrival of newer technologies, this
genre or format of journalism needs to be discussed for wider understanding
and applications for the practicing journalists and audience as well.
De la Peña et al. (2010, p. 292) underlines,

“The fundamental idea of immersive journalism is to allow

the participant to actually enter a virtually recreated scenario
representing the news story. The participant can also enter
the story in one of several forms: as oneself, a visitor
gaining first-hand access to a virtual version of the location
where the story is occurring, or through the perspective of a
character depicted in the news story. Whether visiting the
space as oneself or as a subject in the narrative, the
participant can be afforded with unprecedented access to the
sights and sounds, and possibly, the feelings and emotions
that accompany the news.”
Further, De la Peña et al. (2010, p. 291) assert,

“The combination of VR and journalism has led to the

emergence of the so-called ‘immersive journalism’, defined
by Nonny De la Peña as “the production of news in a form
in which people can gain first-person experiences of the
events or situations described in news stories”.

With the advent of 5G, immersive format of journalism is going to be

transformed. In this context, Newman (2021, p. 33) asserts,

“For news organisations, 5G will eventually enable reliable

high-definition mobile reporting and make it easier to work
and package media from any location. For consumers, 5G
will bring benefits to applications like video livestreaming,
gaming, and immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR)
and augmented reality (AR). Faster speeds and better screens
will also accelerate the push to personalised news, mobile
formats and more visual journalism.”

Reputed international media houses like The New York Times and The
Guardian are utilizing the tools of immersive journalism for better reception
of the audience (Rogers, 2020). Knight Center for Journalism in the
Americas (2021) underlines,

“You can immerse yourself into a picture, where you can

look around, without need for explanation. Immersive
journalism lets the reader act upon their curiosity. Virtual
Reality and Augmented Reality have been growing in
popularity among the journalism community for many years,
but they are now in rivalry with photogrammetry.”

Immersive technologies have the power and ability to mold the process of
storytelling and reporting. This makes the journalism more impactful than the
traditional format of journalism. The technologies are able to engage and
create empathy with the audience. Such technologies try to create link/cue
between the users and the news story employing varied forms of immersion
and presence. Moreover, technologies in the news media field are capable of
attracting new audience along with retaining existing ones. The participation
of the audience in immersive journalism creates a digital avatar which can
move across the recreated scenario in the given news story. The news story
told in the immersive format is equipped with the required technologies to
control the participants or audiences who can enter into the story. This
digital avatar is nothing but a special kind of audience engagement.
Immersive journalism has a lot to play in the format of reporting also.
Immersion as a reporting technique enjoys paramount importance in the age
of digital communication. Thanks to the evolution and revolution in the field
of communication. It provides ample scope for narrative opportunities.
Empathy, understanding and being placed in locations are the driving forces
for immersive journalism (VIAR, 2020). However, Livingstone (2004) finds
that in the trajectories of online journalism, immersive journalism covers the
seemingly elusive audience. Immersive journalism enjoys certain advantages.
The immersive format of storytelling on affective, cognitive and associative
empathy is immense. Studies find that experiencing a news story through
360° remains appealing and impactful (Cummings et al., 2021). The
immersive format of journalism attempts to render the promise of
transparency (Johnson, 2020). Moreover, Dominguez (2017) finds that news
media organizations are resorting to newer forms of immersive techniques
for better user experience.
Despite a number of advantages, immersive journalism suffers from
certain shortcomings. Needless to say, immersive technology should not be
treated as a silver bullet. Sometimes, they can be appropriate to the
newsrooms and sometimes they can be debarred because of privacy and
sensitivity issues. Immersive technologies are yet to be inclusive across all
newsrooms. Newsrooms have not been fully familiarized with the
technologies in several parts of the world. Even the newsrooms which use
immersive technologies are yet to fully exploit the power of immersive
technologies.
It is no wonder immersive journalism is equipped with emerging
technologies with promises and perils. For successful ideation and execution
of such form of journalism demands a lot of new equipment that further
warrants huge investments (Johnson, 2020). It is posing a barrier to greater
adoption across the globe. So, several dimensions to these technological
advancements are in diluted forms and negotiated to the maximum. Such a
form of technological adoption has been a question mark and the debates
continue. In what ways, the technologies are going to influence the course of
journalism remains a matter of scientific study and deliberations.
Along the lines of ethical codes and perspectives, Kool (2016, p. 3)
argues, “Is it ethical to erase the mark of the journalist who still has a large
stake in the orchestration, construction, and communication of her narrative?”
It raises the large of picture ethical codes and execution in the journalistic
practice. One of the perils of immersive technologies is posing a threat to
journalistic values.
As Johnson (2020, p. 79) comments,

“attention should stay focused on maintaining journalistic

values such as credibility, transparency in methods,
accuracy, and independence. This need not be a
conservative activity, that is, it does not have to mean that
journalism stays as it always has been. Values are realized in
different ways in different modes of journalism. As with any
new mode of journalism, it is important to engage with the
new possibilities created while at the same time ensuring that
the new forms stay true to essential values, even if they are
reconfigured. What should be avoided is undermining
essential values such as trust and accuracy. Whether or not
IJ will undermine or enhance journalistic values is yet to be
seen because IJ is still in the making.”

Whenever there is a discussion on immersive technologies for immersive

journalism, usually understanding the nature, growth and positioning of
augmented reality and virtual reality come to the fore.
3.4.3.4.1 AUGMENTED REALITY AND JOURNALISM
Azuma (1997, p. 355 & p. 356) maintains that augmented reality (AR)

“is a variation of virtual environments (VE), or virtual reality

as it is more commonly called. VE technologies completely
immerse a user inside a synthetic environment. While
immersed, the user cannot see the real world around him. In
contrast, AR allows the user to see the real world, with
virtual objects superimposed upon or composited with the
real world.”

With its unique features, AR has started influencing several sectors including
journalism. AR is all set to transform the mode of storytelling in the field of
journalism. AI tools have enabled several industries to create the contents in
numerous formats. With the power of such technological tools, newsrooms
are able to develop contents which further enhance the consumers’
engagements.
The AR technologies make news coverage more interesting and
believable. By employing AI tools, a news story becomes less abstract.
When interacting with AR augmentation tools, news consumers can
experience a sort of presence, what Lee (2004, p. 27) describes as, “a
psychological state in which virtual objects are experienced as actual
objects”. As a means of storytelling, journalism is persistently stimulated to
employ modifications in the format of disseminating information to the
public. For these kinds of constant shifts, current journalism needs to focus
on content innovation, keeping an eye on the changing digital ecosystem. The
duty of journalism is to deliver news as quickly as possible with a sense of
credibility. On the other hand, news consumers ask to get closer to the news
story through immersive media technologies. Aiming to foster transparency,
news media can deliver information which is legitimate in nature.
New forms of storytelling in digital media journalism have creatively
engaged the citizens and the relevance,context, nuance and texture to news
issues are appropriately justified. AR as a storytelling medium in journalism
has transformed the nature, context and pace of journalism. Unique
storytelling forms have emerged in this convergent environment which also
comprises of AR technologies. The visual storytelling capabilities of AR are
delivering the desired output to the news media industries and ultimately
better audience engagement is becoming feasible.
The benefits of AR technologies for immersive journalism have been
immense in numerous respects. AR technologies help the newsrooms in
repackaging the news. It enables to boost augmented reporting. The
technology helps to improve higher accuracy across certain elements of
journalism. A journalist can bring and pose past quotes to take on the
speakers in real time in a press conference. Fact-checking in real time has
become possible. This facilitates the journalists to keep the speakers more
accountable and pushes the reporting to the next level from the perspective of
quality. The technologies have enabled journalists to redefine the level of
creativity in presenting news, features and videos to the audience.
The storytelling formats of news media have been transformed into more
interactive. The geo-locative nature of AR is assisting place-based traditions
of news reporting. It has the ability to provide news stories with a level of
precision. Moreover, geo-tagging can push the profession of journalism to
accept and execute the notion of data mining and help to change into entirely
new ways of news presentation. The visualizations created through AR
technologies for the dissemination of news articles are able to mediate
information in scaffolded augmentations projected onto a space, offering
numerous layers of information to the news consumers. With the emergence
of computational image processing, advanced AR experiences have become
possible. Online communication comprising hypertextual content and audio-
visual tools enabled the digital ecosystem to share and disseminate
information in an efficient manner.
Needless to say, the technology of AR is getting interdisciplinary. Apart
from journalism, AR has made its space significant in the domain of
business. Apart from news industries, AR technologies attempt to engage
customers and transform their brand experience. These days, firms are
curious to invest and experience AR technologies at a macro level. The use
of AR technologies tends to facilitate product evaluation which has larger
bearings on the sales. Tan, Chandukala and Reddy (2021) claim that AR is
the most effective tool when product-related uncertainty pertaining to
information is high. The technologies come in handy in lessening the level of
uncertainty in order to enhance the level of sales. The expectations from AR
from micro and macro perspectives are there (Liao & Iliadis, 2021). AR
mirrors the popular and accepted marketing tools which permit virtual try-on
of products, such as makeup. AR further influences consumer perception of
the self in the domain of product marketing. The technology also assists in
finding out the gap between actual and ideal attractiveness.
Steve Johnson, the founder of SeeBoundless, explains,

“You know the size of your house or your car. When you
put an object next to it, your brain is now processing a
contextualized image in relation to what you are already
familiar with, as opposed to the size of the screen of a
desktop or a smartphone.”

(Rogers, 2020)

The technology is rapidly growing in this area. Social media outlets like
Facebook and Instagram have productively created AR platforms.
Commercial opportunities for journalism driven by AR technologies have
been immense. These technologies are being used by marketing agencies to
optimally exploit business avenues. Suffice to say, commercial avenues and
explorations have the bearings on the journalistic process and output.
The AR technologies have been fruitful for immersive journalism.
However, such technologies also suffer from certain shortcomings. AR
technologies delineate the virtual from the real. Heemsbergen, Bowtell, and
Vincent (2021) argue that future research can be conducted on how
perceptible spatial computation is important and how it increases relations
between objects. The AR technologies are bringing rapid developments in
the field of journalism. News consumers have started learning about features,
qualities and possibilities of this technology. AR journalistic storytelling
capabilities and possibilities are on the rise. As Nielsen and Sheets (2019, p.
12) rightly put, immersive journalism can “add value to many journalistic
productions. Specifically, six interconnected gratifications from using IJ
were identified: immersion, transportation, emotion, empathy, information,
and control”. The need and demand for audiovisual contents at a greater pace
have hiked the importance of AR technologies in news industries. Such kind
of technologies are becoming increasingly inevitable and have forced
journalists to adopt this new format of working in the newsrooms.
3.4.3.4.2 VIRTUAL REALITY AND JOURNALISM
Immersive news provides the news with a difference. The virtual reality
(VR) technologies have their stakes in it. News organizations are not far
behind in utilizing the VR technologies to “transport viewers to places and
events—to understand the world in new ways” (Watson, 2017, p. 7).
However, these technologies are being used for the last few years.
The introduction and application of VR technologies are not completely
new. They came into existence in the 2000s (Hardee, 2016). Kukkakorpi and
Pantti (2020) assert that VR and other such immersive technologies have
heralded an era of emotionally compelling narratives and user agency. The
mediated set-up through various VR stories fetches the scope for interaction
for the users who can attend and respond to the given surroundings. It elicits
a sense of presence of users within the created world.
When news stories are comparatively less emotional and powerful and
not adequately narrated to grab the eyeballs of the users, technological
interventions could be a felt need. Virtual reality and 360° video can be
beneficial in this journalistic context. This form of immersive journalism is
being slowly accepted. These immersive technologies have been considered
as credible innovation for journalism. However, the story content,
perceptions of credibility and empathy are being questioned at the same time.
Mabrook and Singer (2019, p. 12) rightly states,

“Virtual reality, 360° video, and other rapidly developing

forms of immersive storytelling offer enormous scope for
investigation by journalism studies scholars. In this essay,
we have highlighted just three of the many possibilities for
thematic exploration, and with a few exceptions, the
questions we suggest as starting points have been descriptive
in nature. This seems to us appropriate for a topic about
which we currently know so little. But opportunities abound
for more theoretically driven research, and those
 opportunities will expand in tandem with our baseline of
knowledge. From media effects theories to diffusion studies
to approaches encompassing political economy and cultural
appropriation, VR journalism promises to be richly
informative.”

Since journalism is a format of storytelling to the users, the deliberations on

the usages and vitality of VR technologies have become noteworthy. The
applications of VR technologies have been useful in journalistic storytelling.
A growing number of newsrooms are experimenting with VR technologies. In
such type of storytelling, the journalists usually have to tell less and VR
experience remains the core. The users tend to learn through engagement and
embodiment. The aesthetic and symbolic qualities of spatial storytelling have
been the core of attraction in the process of storytelling. Usually, the users go
through spatial narrative and sense of place in which they are into the
emotional engagement with VR news. In course of time, immersive
technologies tend to evoke emotion in creating rich experiences among the
users.
Immersive journalism by employing VR technologies provides umpteen
advantages to the journalists who eventually connect to the users. In such
form of journalism, a first-person experience of events or happening,
locations and stories are at best in terms of delivery. Bringing audiences
closer to reality has been the responsibility of journalists and VR
technologies have the incredible power to offer this multimedia experience
to the users. The importance of VR technologies has been becoming
increasingly paramount in the ever more fragmented media world. Audiences
are becoming volatile and tend to switch from one media to another. The
technologies have successfully addressed the financial woes that have
plagued the news business which is suffering from ailments like generating
revenues.
Collaborative enterprises are emerging in the field of journalism (Owen,
2017). Since immersive journalism demands diverse, multifaceted and
specialized skilled persons, it fosters a collaborative culture. The VR
technologies have the potential to create more transparent form of journalism
which is absent in traditional form of journalism. Like the AR, the utility of
VR is getting interdisciplinary. Apart from journalism, VR has made its
space in the domain of business. The VR technologies have proven benefits
in terms of mediating role of reasoning explanation. AR and VR are
beneficial for business activities and output (Park & Kim, 2021). It does
have larger implications on purchase intentions for the browsers.
As Wu, Cai, Luo, Liu, and Zhang (2021, p. 9) have rightly put,

“From the perspective of interaction, in VR news with

interaction, users take a strong initiative, and their
perceptions and intents can significantly impact the
immersive news experience, so the interaction provided by
the system can guide users to focus their attention on the
information news content producers that aim to convey such
that the levels of concentration and immersion can be
improved. Moreover, interaction also provides users with
multiple opportunities to obtain information, and they can
avoid overlooking important information due to temporary
distraction. In addition, through active interactions,
particularly those from the first-person perspective, users
may have expectations regarding the result of the interaction;
thus, they can obtain information more efficiently and relate
to it emotionally, thereby generating more profound
perceptions of the news content.”

Moreover, Biocca, and Levy (1995, pp. 137–138) have rightly enunciated,

“As a mass medium, virtual reality could fulfill the oldest

dream of the journalist, to conquer time and space. Virtual
news environments would invest journalists with the ability
to create a sense on the part of audiences of being present at
distant, newsworthy locations and events.”
Marcelle Hopkins, Co-director of Virtual Reality and Deputy Director of
Video at The New York Times says,

“We see virtual reality, as well as 360° video, AR, MR, and
whatever comes next, as part of the same spectrum, which is
immersive platforms. We see that as part of the future of
how people consume media, including journalism.”

(Rogers, 2020)

There is little doubt that VR technologies have been extensively employed to

carry news. However, it suffers from certain lacunae. The VR technologies
are being confronted with technological challenges. It is often found that
designing for VR and 360° video remains challenging. Sometimes
professional norms like autonomy, truth-telling and objectivity are being
questioned. Even though VR technologies construct experiences for the users,
journalists often fail to narrate the relationship among themselves, the users
and the subjects of the news stories. This grossly leaves the state of
confusion which may further mar the process of disseminating news. It
creates the space for a narrative paradox in which confusion arises as to
which – user engagement or completeness or cohesion of a news story – is to
be prioritized.
There is no doubt that VR/360 storytelling has been impactful on the
users. However, to experiment the proliferation of contents, VR technologies
have become cumbersome. Eventually, to understand and execute
successfully, journalists have to devote more time. Journalists keep on
experimenting with technologies on how to make good content for the
audience. Moreover, making the contents creative with journalistic values for
their proper marketing and monetarization remain a herculean task.
The immersive technologies including VR technologies have been proved
to be conducive in augmenting the level of participation among the news
consumers (Wu et al., 2021). However, despite the increasing acceptance of
using immersive technologies like VR, this is considered as a novel
journalist paradigm. Even journalists in several newsrooms equipped with
the required machines and skills are still experimenting with this paradigm.
Using immersive technologies still remain a process in several parts of the
world. Several users are yet to be fully aware of VR implications pertaining
to content, content and attitudes towards know-how and computer hardware.
Since technology is the future of journalism, several newsrooms have
started adapting to newer technologies including VR technologies for a wider
reach to the audience. Journalism needs to function with the pace of
technological advancements. However, the business models of VR
technologies seem uncertain. Moreover, since VR news production and
consumption are costly affairs, certain news stories are selected for the
immersive technologies. Newsrooms will decide what kind of news stories
will require VR technologies for effective outcomes in order to connect to
the users. VR technologies are not universal in nature and they cannot be used
in newsrooms for all sorts of news stories. For example, the adoption of
technologies is not feasible for the scenes of disaster and major historical
events. Precisely, the experimentations with technologies have remained to
the core.
As Paino Ambrosio and Rodríguez Fidalgo (2019) argues,

“The arrival of VR to journalism introduces a series of

modifications that require a review of the traditional
communication models and the elements involved in the
communication process based on this technology. It is
evident that the use of VR and 360-degree video can reduce
the distance between the user and the news events, a
question that has to do with the point of view of the user-
receiver, who now can be in the place where the news event
occurs and get an eyewitness account of what is being
reported. These technologies imply a significant change in
the traditional communication models. In this regard, we
have proposed an “immersive communication model.”

Although the use of VR technologies is in the stage of experimentation, it

creates exciting experiences among the users. For better result and pragmatic
approach to such immersive technologies, news persons and technological
persons should work hand in hand. There are certain dimensions where both
news persons and technological persons need to intervene and collaborate
for the success of technologies. Firstly, news media organizations can focus
on strategy and investment. Secondly, since the content remains pivotal in
journalistic storytelling, many concerns have to be exercised in this
direction. Usually, a content is complicated and confused between technology
and the distribution platform. Therefore, the VR technologies need to focus
and prioritize on news contents, which is the end product in the process of
journalistic storytelling. Thirdly, the focus on audiences and monetization
needs to be prioritized. The accessibility and affordability of technologies
among the users are the important factors which need to be considered for the
wider acceptance of the users. Monetization is such an aspect which cannot
be sidelined if the VR technologies are to be sustainable in news media
industry.
Strategy should be thought for both short term and long term, which can
foster the spirit for collaboration and enterprise in the news media sector.
Sponsorship and branding for the promotion of such immersive technologies
is the need of the hour. With the seamless progress, VR technologies are
widely used in varied fields. Similar such progress and interventions are
required in news media industry to make it fast-paced and sustainable in
nature.
Jason Farkas has rightly stressed,

“although empathy is an important component of some VR,

it isn’t the only one. He wonders if an overemphasis on
empathy in the early days of VR experimentation perhaps
limited the range of content explored: VR for a while was
becoming the medium for showing the horrors of war, and
showing struggle – a very dark medium. I think that it’s
incredibly powerful on that level, but I also think that VR
can be delightful and fun. You go to an animal sanctuary
and you feel like you’re right up close with these lions and
tigers, and that shows you the joyful virtual reality
experience.”
 (Watson, 2017, p. 21).

The applications of VR technologies are in the infancy state. However, their

vitality and prowess to influence and impact on tomorrow’s audience cannot
be underestimated. Greater and holistic understanding of audiences remains
pivotal when it comes to the application and sustainability of any technology
including the immersive technologies. As Watson (2017, p. 36) puts it,

“perhaps the biggest unknown for VR content (news or

other) remains audience appetite. Fundamental questions –
such as what sort of content will make users bother to put
on a VR headset every day – remain largely unanswered.
And those questions begin with content but also include
aspects such as how that content is presented on platforms,
through to the user experience of finding and viewing that
content on a headset.”

Precisely, digital transformations and changes in journalism should go hand

in hand. Immersive technologies, part of digital transformation, have a lot to
do with the production, distribution and consumption of news. There is a
little doubt that the use of AR, VR and 360° video has become inevitable. If
immersive technologies are adapted to the newsrooms, it tends to
democratize the spirit of innovation. As a result, the technologies will
innovate newer formats of storytelling. However, ethical guidelines for
immersive journalism have to be strictly adhered to the norms of ethical
journalistic practice.
Precisely, Jones predicts (2021, p. 44),

“As has been evidenced through movements in video and

mobile journalism, opening access to technology is
diversifying narratives and including more perspectives into
the journalistic voice. Through specific organizations
operating in the Global South, training is being offered to
diverse communities to enable an authenticity to storytelling
 that is not being delivered through a foreign lens. This is
allowing journalism to expand on the mixed narratives that
have emerged from digital journalism practices. Immersive
journalism now sits alongside these with calls for access to
technology to enable a narrative and experimentation with
story forms that breaks the digital divide.”

3.4.3.5 Social Media Journalism

A day without social media cannot be imagined in contemporary times. With
the rising importance of social media, certain professional fields including
journalism have been deeply influenced (Newman, 2022). In contemporary
news media industry, journalists and news organizations are optimally
tapping the power of social media which has influenced the level of
gathering and disseminating the news and audience engagement (Bruns, Enli,
Skogerbø, Larsson, & Christensen, 2016). It is often argued that social media
and journalism are going hand in hand. Journalists are not only relying on
social media outlets for information but also sharing their journalistic
contents for mass consumption. Journalists can resort to social media and
foster intimate connections with their audience. Journalists can be engaged in
trending topics and engrossed in chatting with their readers on various
contents.
Precisely, social media is enabling journalists to build and sustain
reputation. Journalists are able to push their publications to wider reach
through social media outlets. Social media are able to open up paths for
diverse conversations on journalists’ contents. Usually, social media
platforms are technology driven and journalists who are engaged here are the
news content creators and news content disseminators. It is a two-way mode
of communication unlike in the format of mainstream media outlets.
Precisely, it is the power of technologies that foster social media journalism,
which is arguably a democratic platform to ventilate news and opinions.

3.4.3.6 Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT and Journalism

AI is becoming the order of the day. AI is slowly becoming a part and partial
in each and every professional field. With the virtue of AI tools, quantitative
approach is increasingly getting into journalistic narratives (Biswal &
Gouda, 2020). Algorithm journalism and automated journalism have been
possible. AI tools are been instrumental in detecting and mitigating the
menace of fake news. The issue of information overload can be overcome.
Credibility is one of the benchmarks in journalistic practice. AI tools can be
employed to maintain the sense of journalistic credibility by erasing the state
of shoddy journalism. Moreover, journalistic practice pertaining to the
production, distribution and consumption of news can be stepped up.
However, using AI tools in the field of journalism has its own limitations.
AI tools have changed the way that photojournalists work and create for
news media. A new disruption in photojournalism may emerge from AI and
drone technology. Drones and AI are related because AI is programmed with
algorithms that ultimately pilot drones and other devices to produce images
and tell visual stories for news media to distribute to consumers. AI tools are
enabling photojournalists to work on multiple projects. Some of the AI tools
– Artificial Studio, DeepSwap, PhotoAiD, Polarr Copilots, Face26,
PicWish, Paint AI, Pics Enhancer, DOMYSHOOT and Topaz – have started
influencing photojournalists. With AI imagery and generators, photographers
can produce images that are technically flawless but lack the imagination and
artistry found in conventional photography. As a result, photojournalists tend
to rely more on technology than on their own expertise and creativity, which
can result in a decline in the caliber and artistry of their work. The paradox
is that despite being inundated with data, news consumers cannot constantly
double-check the images. An accurate information source is required by the
audience. Therefore, the audience as well as newsroom management are
responsible.
News agencies like the Press Trust of India (PTI) are adapting to changing
times where AI is being increasingly used in newsroom. Pratyush Ranjan
who heads the Digital Services, Multimedia, Social Media & Fact Checking
Unit at Press Trust of India (PTI), a news agency in New Delhi, India,
asserts,

PTI has collaborations with Logically.Ai for the use of AI in

fact checking. To quickly and effectively identify and
combat harmful and manipulative content, Logically
 Intelligence uses artificial intelligence. With the support from
Logically, our Fact check desk pulls data and content from
websites, online media sources, and social media platforms.
As a result, we are able to identify, evaluate, and respond to
new threats. With the power of AI, the technology is
providing the journalists-cum-analysts with content analysis
tools to detect harmful online narratives and threats at speed
and at scale. Recently during the Karnataka State election in
India, Logically Intelligence, the AI-powered platform, has
enabled our journalists to counter election-related
misinformation. PTI and Logically aim at helping people in
India identify and report misinformation related to elections.

PTI, as a news agency, is promoting its fact-check journalists to be skilled in

AI tools through the pedagogy of trainings and workshops through exposures
to international standards. Pratyush Ranjan points out,

PTI is endorsing its journalists in using AI tools in fighting

against misinformation and disinformation. Recently,
Meridian International Center, based in Washington, sent
Pratyush on a reporting tour to learn more on countering
misinformation and disinformation. He also attended an
enlightening session on AI and Deepfakes organized by the
California based RAND Corporation in which I could learn
AI and deepfake technologies for journalism, emphasizing
the importance of staying ahead in the fight against
disinformation.

Pratyush Ranjan also adds,

Earlier in my tenure with Jagran New Media, I was

associated with 6-month-long ‘JournalismAI’ global project
for a comprehensive study of the role of artificial
 intelligence in the future of Journalism. It was a project of
POLIS – think-tank of the London School of Economics
and Political Science. I also participated in the 6-month-long
Newsroom Leadership programme by the Columbia
University Graduate School of Journalism. The Google
News Initiative network supported the programme which
could impart training on the use of AI and machine learning
in content planning, production & distribution in the
newsroom.

However, there are many languages in India and they are posing a potential
challenge in using AI tools to curb misinformation and disinformation. In a
country where there are less number of official languages, use of AI is
becoming fruitful in checking spurious content. In India, the use of AI in this
direction is just the beginning.
ChatGPT is the new entrant in the space of journalism. By assisting with
tasks like news aggregation, data-driven journalism, fact checking and social
media management, ChatGPT is a technology that has the potential to
revolutionize the profession of journalism. By automating the creation of
news, this technology may enable journalists to produce content more quickly
and with less manual labor. Around the world, news media organizations and
news agencies are using artificial intelligence to create content, customize
their offerings and increase audience engagement. To learn linguistic nuances
and patterns, ChatGPT is trained on a sizable corpus of text. As a result, this
AI tool can generate news articles with a similar tone and style to those
written by humans. By significantly reducing the time and effort needed to
produce news stories, this technology could free up journalists to concentrate
on other aspects of their jobs.
Maarit Jaakkola, Co-director, Nordicom, Nordic Centre for Media
Research, University of Gothenburg, Sweden points out that the development
of AI has been very rapid, and breakthroughs may also come abruptly in
future. The release of the user-friendly chatbot ChatGPT by OpenAI in
November 2022 provided larger audiences with the possibility to discover
AI in a very tangible way. Education professionals raised concerns about
how school tasks should be reformulated and academics awakened into the
need for a more rigorous framework, asking, for example, whether AI can
contribute to a text as a coauthor. Also, the availability of AI-based image
generators raised concerns among photojournalists and image professionals
about how the extremely quick and cheap production of images will affect
human-based creative work, giving a cause to invent completely new
categories of works such as promtography and worker categories such as the
promptographer – AI-aided photography, based on prompts written for the
bot that generates the images. An open letter cosigned by Elon Musk, one of
the cofounders of OpenAI, and almost 28,000 persons, including tech
leaders, researchers and media professionals, demanded in March 2023 a
six-month pause in the development of the most powerful AI systems. They
referred to the Asilomar AI Principles that state that “advanced AI could
represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be
planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources”. According
to them, the development was not controlled and commensurate enough, and
they saw considerable risks in developing “digital minds that no one – not
even their creators – can understand, predict, or reliably control”.

3.4.3.7 5G and Journalism

5G is the new evolution in the field of communication technologies and it is
going to enhance the communication system for unlimited connectivity
(Attaran, 2023). IBM Corporation (2020, p. 11) asserts,

“Industry 4.0 is completely changing the concept of

manufacturing from massive production to massive
customization. Industrial connectivity today mainly uses
wired connections, which provide the high performance and
reliability required for automation, but lack the flexibility to
meet changing production demands. A flexible and
programmable environment—based on highspeed, low-
latency wireless 5G connections, the use of edge computing
and AI—will link machines, processes, robots, and people.
This environment sets up the opportunity for more flexible
 and dynamic production capabilities to meet rapidly
evolving market needs and massive customization.”

In the field of media and communication, especially journalism, 5G is going

to change the mode of interaction from media outlets to their audience. Its
implementation and disruptiveness are gaining attention in the news media.
5G will boost the augmented and virtual reality applications which further
can influence the journalistic productions and dissemination to the audience.
Moreover, the audiences will undergo new senses to media – touch and feel.
This communication revolution will boost media usages and further revenues
can be significantly enhanced. From starting to the end product of generating
higher revenues in the process journalistic process, narratives are going to be
changed. With the advent of IOT-5G technology, journalists can rewrite the
data. It will further facilitate better video broadcasting on news.
Verizon 5G is expected to perform better which can create new forms of
journalism. It can facilitate the journalists to automatically stream the media.
The future of journalism can be shaped up with more personalized contents,
intelligent algorithms and robot journalists which can be better possible and
functional with the availability of 5G. However, the barriers of availability,
affordability, relevance and readiness will be there at any point of time.

3.4.3.8 Blockchain and Journalism

Blockchain, a disruptive technology, is decentralized format of
cryptocurrency transactions. Blockchain in news media has been beneficial
in numerous manner. News media organizations can use blockchain to
produce auditable, verifiable and transparent database solutions; to produce
cryptocurrency solutions-based business models; to access and utilize the
public data in blockchain-based systems; and to foster the scopes for
newsrooms for the creation of contents and to keep the journalists and their
news media organizations accountable.
It is quite apparent that the lines between advertisement and journalism
have been blurring with increasing doses from corporate sponsorships.
Blockchain-enabled news platforms act as solutions to mitigate and
overcome the issues. The blockchain-based registries can be possible
solutions in ranking and filtering trusted advertisers and ad contents. As a
result, database solutions can be beneficial to create and maintain trust
among media organizations, and between the media and the public. This
disruptive technology tends to check the menace of fake news. It mechanizes
bringing the agenda. Most importantly, it also creates and enriches the public
area where opinions are collected for social development (Kim & Yoon,
2019). Precisely, blockchain can be instrumental in curbing fake news,
protecting intellectual rights, investigating transactions, safeguarding
protecting whistleblowers and fostering citizen journalism. Cryptocurrency
or token can be initiated in news media organizations to incentivize the users
for cooperation and content creation. Cryptocurrency can be used to
compensate the reporters or newspersons in news media outlets.
Crowd journalism can be feasible by using blockchain-based
infrastructure, and such form of journalism has varied implications. In this
context, Teixeira, Amorim, Silva, Lopes and Filipe (2020, p. 177) assert,

“Designing a new approach to crowd Journalism using a

blockchain infrastructure combines the advantages of
crowdsourcing as a way to acquire knowledge and content,
with the power of a decentralized blockchain network,
which guarantees privacy, traceability, and content
ownership. This work meets these two factors, while
making the software adaptable and customizable, and the
network decentralized in a media consortium.”

Blockchain technologies can be employed to explore the newer format of

storytelling. The technology can be used to monetize the contents or
distribution of news articles. Data journalism, one of the potential areas of
journalism, can be explored with the advent and use of blockchain
technologies.

3.4.3.9 Metaverse and Journalism

Metaverse as a part of technological innovation is making its presence in the
domain of communication revolution, which has influenced the field of
journalism. Metaverse refers “to be the continuity (or persistence) of identity
and objects, a shared environment, the use of avatars (or embodied self),
synchronization, being three-dimensional (or virtual), interoperability, and a
user experience that is interactive, immersive, and social” (Kim, 2021, p.
42). Such technological innovation attempts to connect all the entities
comprising virtual, augmented and physical reality (Lee, 2021).
The world of journalism is going to witness metaverse through digital
avatars where the news consumers will experience the immersive form of
journalism. Metaverse is going redefine the journalistic practice. Digital
avatars in the metaverse are going to provide the participation of wider
audience segments. Immersive journalism through this platform attempts to
foster the sense of first-person experience of the events depicted in news
reports. With the growing use of 360 video, artificial intelligence, virtual
reality or augmented reality, the narratives in journalism especially in visual
journalism are witnessing numerous changes. Changes are also happening
because of Web 3.0 and the metaverse. This technological innovations have
made the profession of journalism to rethink regarding its process of
production, distribution and consumption of contents to take optimum use of
web3 and the metaverse.
Since the economy of metaverse is an important dimension to discuss,
Kohli-Khandekar (2022) predicts that journalism is shifting to a subscription
model as AI and metaverse are into newsrooms. However, the format of
immersive journalism is not free from flaws. The issues of privacy cannot be
ruled out. Technological differences have further widened the gap and are
infamously strengthening the space of digital divide. Moreover, newsrooms
in several parts of the world are not equipped with the required technologies.
For instance, in India several news organizations are relying on Asian News
International (ANI), a news agency in India. Known as Asia’s leading
multimedia news agency, ANI provides round-the-clock facilities for both
domestic and international channels. This news agency travels all over the
world to report on events in and from South Asia, wherever they may occur.
The ANI Video service offers its TV subscribers over 45 video news stories
every day. The topics covered in the stories range widely, including current
events, popular culture, sports, leisure and business and finance.
Additionally, the ANI video content is accessible on the Reuters TV World
News Service in the “Subcontinent” section. Leading international news
outlets like the BBC and CNN, as well as channels from all over the world,
subscribe to this service (ANI, n.d.).

3.5 Contesting for An Appropriate Technology in

Journalism
Suffice to say, the role of technology is pivotal in media and communication.
However, the technology needs to be appropriate. Appropriate technology is
concerned for the total development which also considers social and cultural
factors. Dunn (1978) argues that the approach of development should be
based on culture, and tradition of the community people and must not have
socially disruptive effect on the society as a whole. While deliberating on
appropriate technology, socially appropriate technology (Hibbard &
Hosticka, 1982) was coined. Precisely, socially appropriate technology
caters to the needs of well-being of a society apart from mere economic
development.
It was Schumacher who first pronounced the concept of ‘intermediate
technology’ which is also known as appropriate technology (McRobie, 1981,
p. 19). The concept of appropriate technology was the agenda of the not-for-
profit appropriate technology movement (Kaplinsky, 2011). Such movement
ideates the technologies and innovations to be used by the small-scale labor-
intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sound and locally autonomous
bodies. Such movement has its presence in both developed and developing
countries because of its robustness and sustainable thoughts. Whenever there
are discussions on sustainable technologies, the cradle-to-cradle framework
(Sherratt, 2013) comes to the fore. The framework not only intends to
minimize the negative influences but also to create and retain a positive
ecological output. It is a holistic approach for the safety of humans,
environment and successful running of business.
When it comes to journalism, digital technologies are becoming beneficial
and disruptive in nature. Technologies can be tested before mass adoption. In
this context, Mühleisen (2018, p. 3) claims,

“An important component of a disruptive technology is that

it must first be widely adopted before society adapts to it.
 Electricity delivery depended on generators. The current
technological revolution depends on computers, the
technical backbone of the Internet, search engines and
digital platforms. Because of the lags involved in adapting to
new processes, such as replacing traditional printing with
online publishing, it takes time before output growth
accelerates. In the early stages of such revolutions, more and
more resources are devoted to innovation and reorganization
whose benefits are realized only much later.”

3.6 Concluding Remarks

Every day is a new day in terms of technological innovations in the field of
journalism. The role of technologies from stone carving to ChatGPGT is
immense in terms of production, distribution and consumption of news
contents. Very recently, techniques used for virtual and meta influencer are
being widely discussed. Computer-generated imagery (CGI), based on
computer graphics is in a big way. It has been observed that some of the
newsrooms have employed AI tools and blockchain by skipping the
intermediary technologies and are setting a stage of leapfrogging in terms of
technological adoption. If virtual and meta influencer and CGI are used
properly, news media may get benefits out of these technologies in the future.
Usually, the stage of leapfrogging occurs in developing nations and
developing economies. However, the challenges of non-availability,
expensiveness and irrelevance will be there at any point of time. In this
context, Newman (2021, p. 35) has rightly quoted, “The combination of new
devices, better connectivity, and increasingly powerful technology holds out
the promise of a smarter world where human intelligence is augmented and
supported by machines. But it also marks another wave of rapid disruption
with potential downsides for many, with much of the underlying technology
developed and controlled by a small number of big technology companies.”
Political economy of media technologies is worth discussing in the light
of technological innovations and adoption. Liao and Iliadis (2021, p. 23)
point out, “Emerging technologies exist in a state of flux as a mixture of
blueprint and hardware, plan and practice, the soon to arrive and the almost
obsolete, surrounded by speculation and speculators, who make often-
contested claims about their promises, perils, and possibilities.”
Precisely, media technologies have made the field of journalism richer
and vibrant, but news media have become more fragile and disrupted over
the years. So, employing appropriate technologies has been imperative and
this larger question is doing rounds in the domain of media and
communication. Moreover, debates in the academic fraternity are gaining
momentum from time to time.

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4 Deliberating Theoretical
Justifications in the Prism of
Journalism and Artificial
Intelligence

A Revisit of Theories in Media and

Communication
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-4

4.1 Introduction
The study of theories is crucial across all academic fields. Theories provide
an adequate conceptual understanding of phenomena that cannot be
quantified, such as the functioning of societies, organizations and the reasons
behind specific social interactions. Theory offers concepts that describe
what we see and explain connections between concepts. Theory enables and
equips us to make sense of what we observe and decide how to bring about
change. It is a tool that helps us identify problems and make plans for
potential solutions. Theory strives to formulate statements or propositions
that will have some explanation. It arranges and condenses knowledge. The
foundation of a theory is made up of principles, presumptions and
conceptions that, when combined, typically explain, characterize or forecast
a phenomenon. A good theory is both concise and thorough; it uses the fewest
words feasible to explain, describe or predict an event, serving as a
summary of existing information. Theory serves as conceptual frameworks,
arranging presumptions, justifications and relationships into a useful model.
It serves as language by providing theorists with a worldview or a
framework for interpreting phenomena. It also serves as the foundation for
research, and effective research is a source of theories that either advance or
add to the body of knowledge (Gauch, 2003). The importance of theory in
every discipline including media and communication remains pivotal and
needs to be discussed in the changing times of current media structure.
The development of communication theories has been influenced by a
variety of historical contexts. The post–World War II tries to understand
propaganda and the connections between media and society (Trudel, 2017).
To be more specific, communication theory gives us the means to address
issues in empirical, conceptual or practical approaches to the discipline of
communication. The use of theory can be seen as a method of mapping and
navigating the world. Different communication theories have varied
epistemologies, and part of the theorizing process is to express this
philosophical commitment (Miller, 2005). Interpretive empirical, metric
empirical or postpositivist, rhetorical and critical epistemologies are
separated by one classification or organizational structure.
The study of communication remains fascinating and significant. It is
crucial to knowing how people function in the realm of communication.
Theories of mass communication aid us in determining the relationship
between the media and authority, the impact of the media on politics, the
economy, culture and society, and the relationship and effect of the media as
an institution on the general public. The goal of mass communication theory
is to develop claims or hypotheses that can explain how people use, react to
and interact with the media. The idea aims to explain how mass media affects
audiences, society and individuals. These effects may be imparted to the
target entity.

4.2 Theories in Journalism in the Prism of

Artificial Intelligence
4.2.1 Uses and Gratification Theory
The uses and gratification theory (UGT) attempts to study media that focuses
on the applications that individuals have for it and the satisfaction they get
from them. Nearly as old as media research itself is the notion that media use
is influenced by the perceived satisfaction, needs, wishes or reasons of the
potential audience member. Audiences are frequently created based on
shared human needs, interests and preferences. The root of many of these
seems to be social or psychological. Such needs frequently include the
desires for knowledge, solace, camaraderie, amusement or escape. Such
broad motivational types are typically used to categorize the audiences for
certain media and types of media content (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch,
1973). Media act as meeting a variety of societal needs, such as social
control, cultural continuity, cohesion and the wide dissemination of all forms
of public information. The use of media for associated reasons, such as
personal direction, relaxation, adjustment, information and identity
construction, is therefore assumed.
Some of the recent and credible studies on the uses and gratification
theory includes – podcasting (Perks, Turner, & Tollison, 2019); social media
usage (Mesmer & Jahng, 2021), immersive journalism (Van Damme, All, De
Marez, & Van Leuven, 2019), virtual reality (Ball, Huang, & Francis, 2021)
and consumer behavior (Mejía-Trejo, 2021). However, there is not a single
study conducted on this theory connecting to the use of artificial intelligence
in journalism. With the advent of ChatGPT, the paradigm pertaining to uses
and gratification approach is undergoing further changes. ChatGPT, an AI
tool, is being massively used in the process of production, distribution and
consumption of media contents. Since this theory is an audience-centric in
approach, studying this in prism of AI tools including ChatGPT and
journalism will provide newer insight into the audiences’ needs, tastes and
preferences. It can also deep dive into the news consumers’ sense of
gratification in a developed country and developing country.

4.2.2 Gatekeeping Theory

Kurt Lewin, a German psychologist and pioneer in social psychology,
proposed the concept of gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is a procedure in which
the selection of media content occurs for the purpose of the audiences’
consumption. Therefore, gatekeeping is a kind of filtering media content
meant for the audience. Gatekeeping tends to cut down the media content that
the readers or viewers will get exposed to (Shoemaker & Vos, 2009). The
gatekeepers choose which information should be passed on to the group or
people. Usually, gatekeepers try to disseminate information that suits their
preferences, professional interests and societal needs. Such kind of exercise
may reflect gatekeepers’ bias.
The gatekeepers decide which information should be disclosed to a group
or person and which information should not. The gatekeepers are the people
who make the decisions and approve of the entire social structure. They are
the targets of their own social, cultural, ethical and political influences,
making them the gatekeepers. They share the information with the group in
accordance with social or personal factors. Through this process, the
gatekeepers weed out the unwelcome, sensible and contentious information,
assisting in society’s or a group’s governance and directing them in the right
direction. In the family, the mother is key in deciding what the kids need and
shouldn’t be exposed to. Similar to this, editors are important in the news
media. He/she must decide which news stories to publish and which to hold
off on. This gatekeeping process determines not only the information that is
selected but also the nature and content of messages.
With artificial intelligence increasingly getting into the newsrooms,
algorithms are thereby emerging as the supreme curators and gatekeepers.
News services are being offered in the format of AI services. In the near
future, intelligent algorithms will take over a growing number of tasks
involving the gathering, organizing, interpreting and applying of the enormous
amount of information on the internet and the mountain of big data that keeps
expanding. Recent ethical issues with access include censorship, fake news
and filter bubbles, where algorithms reinforce people’s prejudices (Pariser,
2011). Algorithms or AI tools have become the new gatekeepers. Some of the
scholarly works on gatekeeping theory include – influences and journalistic
capital (Tandoc Jr, 2018), journalistic balance (Benham, 2020), community
gatekeeping (Gondwe, Ferrucci & Tandoc, 2023), journalism’s institutional
relationships (Vos & Russell, 2019), social media (Grygiel & Lysak, 2021;
Salonen, Olbertz-Siitonen, Uskali, & Laaksonen, 2022), and algorithmic
news (Møller, 2022). However, there is hardly any scholarly studies on
gatekeeping theory in the light of AI. Both conceptual and empirical research
are the need of the hour to bridge the research gaps.
 With the increasing execution of ChatGPT in newsrooms for various
journalistic works, news media outlets are witnessing a different experience.
This AI tool enables journalists to summarize large datasets; create questions
for interviews; provide creative headlines; translate news articles to varied
languages; assist journalists with social media posts; and assist journalists to
rewrite the news stories. All these activities curtail the role of gatekeepers.
However, so far, only opinion columns have deliberated on ChatGPT in the
light of gatekeeping. There are no scholarly works on the impact of ChatGPT
on the process of gatekeepers in the news industry. The theory of gatekeeping
can be tested on the anvil of ChatGPT in contemporary times. There is a need
to study this AI tool in the light of gatekeeping, both in a conceptual and an
empirical manner. This will add novelty to the domain of research in media
and communication.
Studies need to be initiated to re-examine the gatekeeping theory on the
use of AI tools including ChatGPT in newsrooms in developing countries and
developed countries. Investigations are required to understand the use of AI
tools for gatekeeping that have implications on news values. Moreover,
larger media conglomerate has wider access to AI tools and how it is
influencing the state of gatekeeping can be scientifically studied. Since news
media industry is a dynamic field, technological intervention is the order of
the day. Studies have become imperative on technologies like metaverse,
machine learning, immersive technologies and ChatGPT in the ambit of
gatekeeping. By doing so, there will be an extension of gatekeeping theory
and the theoretical contributions to the theory in the field of journalism can
be realized.

4.2.3 Propaganda Theory

Propaganda theory remains important in the field of media and
communication. According to Lasswell (1927), growing political unrest and
widespread economic hardship had led to a rise in insanity, leaving the
majority of people open to even open propaganda. When faced with serious
threats to their personal safety, the average person turns to propaganda for
solace and a way to deal with the situation. Lasswell criticizes
oversimplified behaviorist theories pertaining to the impact of propaganda.
He provides description of the propagandist’s role. The propaganda strategy,
which has been described in terms of culture, can be easily explained using
the language of stimulus response.
Herman and Chomsky mention five filters when describing the
propaganda model: anti-communism, funding, source, size, ownership and
the mass media’s emphasis on profit (Pedro, 2011). The major media outlets
are governed by a few powerful people. Major media outlets, newspapers
and other mass communication tools are owned by big businesses and
conglomerates. The depth of these organizations’ financial interests could
jeopardize the reporting’s objectivity of news industries. Advertising is the
primary revenue source for mass media. In order to maintain their existence,
media frequently alter mass media ethics. It is true that even the largest media
organizations worldwide are unable to afford to send reporters and camera
crews to locations where breaking news stories are occurring. To ensure a
steady flow of news, the media take the necessary actions in the source’s
favor. Massive production of criticism harms the media. The media is be
alert for any adverse reactions all the time. Media elites controlling the
major media platforms have established a policy to restrict news and articles
that highlight the spirit and flow of communism.
Some of the credible studies on propaganda theory in journalism include –
legitimacy (Xiong, Liu, & He, 2021), journalism culture (Mattsson, 2022),
journalistic practice (Long & Shao, 2023), news media studies (Zollmann,
2019), authoritarianism (Klaehn et al., 2018), citizen journalism (Wall,
2018), misinformation and disinformation (Guess & Lyons, 2020) and fake
news (Mare, Mabweazara, & Moyo, 2019). With the rapid changes in
communication technologies, the important of AI in the field of journalism
deserves attention in the prism of propaganda. The use AI also goes through
five filters including ownership of media, funding, source, flak and anti-
communism. However, there has been not a single study conducted on
propaganda theory in the light of using AI in journalism. Both conceptual and
empirical studies are required to bridge the research gaps.
On political and social issues, it has been found that ChatGPT, an AI tool,
frequently generates responses with a strong left-leaning and libertarian
political bias. At different times, ChatGPT will react differently. The
opinions expressed by ChatGPT are skewed to the left. Furthermore, one
possible source of bias is the training data (Brookings, 2023). ChatGPT
upholds gender stereotypes and norms related to specific professions. So far,
the tool is unable to translate the pronoun that is gender-neutral (Ghosh &
Caliskan, 2023). This tool can further intensify propaganda. Since ChatGPT
is doing rounds in the field of journalism, scholarly studies can be initiated
on the use of such tools in the direction of propaganda.

4.2.4 Political Economy Theory

Political economy is a method of media analysis that focuses more on the
production, consumption and distribution of media content than it does on
deciphering the meanings of the signs and symbols found in texts. Information
and communication technology, broadcasting, advertising and journalism are
just a few of the industries that fall under the political economy of the media.
An analysis of the power dynamics between politics, mediation and
economics is done using a political economy perspective. What are the
specific methods political economists use to create and use political
economy in the new media environment powered by platform technologies in
the three new domains of digital platforms, big data and digital labor? Not
only are these regions important for examination because of their
complicated connections, but also because they have grown to be substantial,
major components of contemporary capitalism.
Some recent and credible studies have been conducted on the political
economy of media in varied areas including – journalistic power (Canella,
2023), undercover journalism (Ofori-Parku & Botwe, 2020), ethical
journalism (Mathe, 2020) and alternative journalism (Cheruiyot, 2021).
However, the study of this theory in the field of journalism and artificial
intelligence is not there. Precisely, political economy of media attempts to
focus on the organization and management of media; provides an empirical
analysis of media finances; and seeks to connect the financing of media with
the creation of media content. Since journalism is a domain that keeps on
changing including technological interventions, discussions on the use of AI
tools in the light of political economy theory is becoming of paramount
importance. By visiting the theory in the prism of journalism and artificial
intelligence including ChatGPT there could be an extension of theory.
Concerns about the potential misuse of AI models are raised by the
possibility of political biases being ingrained in them. AI systems that exhibit
political biases and are widely used pose a threat because they could be used
to manipulate democratic institutions and processes, spread misinformation
and exert social control. In addition, they pose a significant barrier to finding
the truth (Rozado, 2023; Bloomberg, 2022), which can be deliberated in the
light of political economy of technologies including ChatGPT. By studying
ChatGPT in the direction of political economy of communication in general,
journalism in particular could be a major theoretical contribution and an
extension to the theory.

4.2.5 Cultivation Theory

In the 1960s, Professor George Gerbner coined the term ‘cultivation theory’.
Cultivation theory was created as a tool to investigate how viewers were
impacted by television. The central tenet of the theory is that as people spend
more time “living” in the world of television, they are more likely to believe
that social reality corresponds with that which is portrayed on television
(Potter, 2014). Since it assumes the existence of objective reality and
impartial research, cultivation theory falls under the positivistic
philosophical category.
Some of the credible scholarly studies on cultivation theory include
physical characteristics of strangers (Stein, Krause, & Ohler, 2021), digital
media (Ruddock, 2020), psychological processes and underlying cultivation
effect (Shrum, 2017), contemporary news media (Morgan, Shanahan, &
Signorielli, 2015) and pseudo newsgathering (Ferrucci & Painter, 2013).
However, the study has not been conducted on the use of artificial
intelligence in journalism. Moreover, with the advent of ChatGPT, the field
of journalism is undergoing changes. This AI tool has affected the views and
behaviors of journalists. The journalists might be internalizing and reflecting
what they experience from ChatGPT. Nevertheless, there have been no
scholarly studies in which cultivation analysis was deliberated on the use of
ChatGPT. Such studies would be novice, but deserve to be conducted.
Conducting research on this emerging area would bridge the knowledge gaps.
The principle of cultivation has been used to explore the emerging media
and fast developments in the news media and journalism. Media technology
has not been static in nature. As a result, traditional methods of cultivation
analysis could need to switch from counting the number of television hours
watched to a big data perspective. Despite widespread skepticism regarding
the applicability of cultivation theory in light of the growing significance of
new media, these media nonetheless employ story, and since those narratives
keep on influencing us, cultivation analysis is still relevant. Recent trends in
cultivation approach are important aspects in the field of journalism with the
technological trends like artificial intelligence, machine learning and
metaverse being increasingly incorporated.
Revisiting the cultivation theory on the impact of AI on the audience in the
field of journalism is an emerging research area which will bridge the
research gaps.

4.2.6 Agenda-Setting Theory

Agenda-setting can be defined as “news media have the capability to
influence the audience’s network-like mental structure” (McCombs &
Reynolds, 2002, p. 257). McCombs (2004, p. 3) further paraphrased
Lippmann’s findings as “the news media, our windows to the vast world
beyond direct experience, determine our cognitive maps of that world”.
In the study of agenda-setting, media platforms strategize a hierarchy of
news importance for the audience. A nation’s political clout is thought to be
reflected in the amount of media coverage it receives. The agenda-setting of
the media is driven by its bias toward topics including politics, economy and
culture (McCombs, 2005). The agenda-setting and freewheeling aspects of
communication research that emerged facilitated the rapid growth and
expansion of these concepts. For an agenda to be effective, certain steps must
be carried out in a specific order. The general audience’s perceptions are
influenced by how news reports and issues are presented. There have been
immense studies conducted on agenda-setting theory on varied dimensions.
Some of the studies in the area of journalism include – citizen journalism
(Pain, 2018), plagiarism (Kurambayev, 2020), Twitter (Yang & Sun, 2021),
public perceptions on media coverage (Jiang, Cheng & Cho 2021), political
communication (Boukes, 2019) and digital media platforms (Guo & Zhang,
2020; Guo, 2019). However, there has been hardly any study conducted on
agenda-setting theory along the lines of artificial intelligence including
ChatGPT and journalism.
AI tools are influencing newsrooms to a great extent. However, using
various AI tools nowadays in newsroom is fairly a costly affair and
accessibility is a herculean task. Then which newsrooms and which parts of
the world are able to use and who are behind the scene are the questions to
be probed. However, the arrival of ChatGPT which is a free AI tool so far,
has started affecting the newsrooms. There have been no scholarly works on
agenda-setting approach to ChatGPT. The agenda of technological
proliferations deserves to be re-examined in the light of AI. Moreover, re-
examining these aspects will the extension of the agenda-setting theory and
theoretical contributions in the academic of journalism can be tangible.

4.2.7 Spiral of Silence Theory

Spiral of silence theory was coined by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. This
theory indicates people’s propensity to keep quiet when they believe their
opinions conflict with those of the majority on a certain issue. People keep
quiet for a number of reasons – a fear of exclusion when others in the group
or the general public learn that the individual has an alternative viewpoint to
the current quo; and the worry that expressing an opinion might have
undesirable effects beyond simple isolation, such as fear of retaliation or
more severe isolation (Noelle‐Neumann, 1974). This theory states that in
given a situation, we all have the ability to recognize what and which
viewpoints are prevalent in a given society.
Gearhart and Zhang (2018) explore using social media will encourage
more people to present their views on political matters. Given the growing
influence of social media on culture, communication debate and daily life, it
is critical to repurpose this potential for societal advancement. Algorithms in
social media could be used to offer consumers’ suggestions and information
that is not governed by social norms. People constantly monitor social media
comments because they worry about being alone (Neubaum & Krämer,
2017). Reduced isolation fears can foster more varied dialogues and, when
combined with the idea that people alter their thoughts as a result of exposure
to perspectives on social media, they can lessen the influence of the majority
and minority opinions in society.
According to Wang, Hmielowski, Hutchens, and Beam (2017), content
suggestions from news searches or sharing may help the people reinforce
their already beliefs by redistributing pertinent material to their online social
networks. The researchers point out the vitality of people’s social systems in
relation to the spiral of silence. People who are exposed to perspectives that
are similar to their own are more inclined to believe that their ideas are
shared by the majority. People tend to ignore or reject information that
contradicts their own ideas and only seek information that supports those
opinions or feelings (Chaffee & Miyo, 1983). Information collected through
AI systems may ascertain people’s preexisting beliefs.
This suggests that information based on algorithms may confirm people’s
pre-existing beliefs. Social media users may believe that the suggested
content accurately represents the majority’s views on public topics because
content automation mandates a quasi-statistical sense of the public opinion
climate. A noteworthy aspect of this process is what we refer to as an agent
of control of content exposure. According to reinforcement theory, people
deliberately and selectively choose preferred information in the context of
mainstream media based on their pre-existing ideas. However, the primary
means of information control now are the automated algorithms on social
media.
Some of the recent and scholarly works on spiral of silence theory include
– live radio journalism (Chagas, 2019), algorithm-driven social media
content (Cheong, Baksh, & Ju, 2022), mainstream public sphere (Ma, 2020),
political opinion expression (Kunst, Toepfl, & Dogruel, 2020), online
comment and news (Duncan et al., 2020) and opinion expression and climate
change (Porten-Cheé & Eilders, 2015). However, the extant literature has not
addressed the area of spiral of silence in the light of using artificial
intelligence and algorithms in the newsrooms in empowering the weak and
providing voice to the voiceless. Suffice to say, AI tools in the newsrooms
can be a boon to break the culture of silence and empower the weak and
become the voice of the voiceless. Further, the arrival of ChatGPT has
empowered journalists irrespective of their positions and locations.
Social media content determined by algorithms has the bearings on the
spiral of silence. Spiral of silence principles work in a world where content
is suggested by algorithms. Social media platforms are engaged with
perceived anonymity and postings which are duly executed by algorithms. In
comparison to traditional mass media, social media uses distinct techniques
to shape the public opinion. The social media algorithms propose pertinent
materials to users based on their prior online behavior history and
interactions with other users who share their interests on varied social
networks. As a result, the suggested content may support and foster popular
perspectives.
Algorithmic content endorsements in social media outlets enhance users’
quasi-statistical sensitivities that their beliefs represent those of the majority,
lessen their fear of being alone and increase their willingness to express
themselves on the platform. That is, when social media use increases,
individuals will perceive their own beliefs as the majority views more often;
feel less isolated; and be more eager to express their thoughts on public
topics online. Automation of social media material, though, has invited
certain shortcomings. Since the message flow is controlled by algorithmic
methods, news organizations and journalists must exercise caution and post
both positive and negative responses to their news pieces on social media
platforms. The applications of ChatGPT should not be exception to
journalists’ scrutiny. These platforms select contents to be interesting and
relevant based on how users have previously used media. Hence, the users of
social media content should be aware of this. Therefore, studying the theory
of spiral silence in the light of using AI in journalism will bridge the
research gaps and subsequently make theoretical contributions.

4.2.8 Technological Determinism Theory

The reductionist theory of technological determinism, created by the
American sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen, asserts that
technological development is fundamentally anti-democratic because it
follows its own inside sense of competence and dictates the evolution of a
societal construction and cultural norms (Héder, 2021). The social structure
and cultural values of a society are predetermined by its technology, claims
the technological determinism theory. Our cultural expectations are also
shaped by technological determinism. As a result, it produces a system of
norms and values that govern how we conduct as a society.
Dusek (2006, p. 84) defines technological determinism as

“Technological determinism is the claim that technology

causes or determines the structure of the rest of society and
culture. Autonomous technology is the claim that technology
is not in human control, that it develops with a logic of its
 own. The two theses are related. Autonomous technology
generally presupposes technological determinism. If
technology determines the rest of culture, then culture and
society cannot affect the direction of technology.
Technological determinism does not, on the face of it,
presuppose autonomous technology. It could be that free,
creative inventors devise technology, but that this
technology determines the rest of society and culture.”

Huesemann and Huesemann (2011) assert that technology remains neutral. It

is neither good nor harmful; rather, what matters is how we utilize it.
Some of the scholarly works on technological determinism theory include
data journalism (de-Lima-Santos & Mesquita, 2021), digital native media
(García-Orosa, López-García & Vázquez-Herrero, 2020), digital
transformation (Frennert, 2021), social media and movement (Foust & Hoyt,
2018), green revolution (Swer, 2021) and learning process (Mardiana &
Daniels, 2019). However, there have been no scholarly works conducted on
technological determinism theory connecting to the use of artificial
intelligence tools in journalism. Theory of technological determinism is
becoming important in the academic of journalism as the industry of
journalism has been ceaselessly exposed to technological interventions like
AI, metaverse and immersive technologies. In addition, with the advent of
ChatGPT, the journalistic process is getting revised. ChatGPT, as a
technological process, has immense implications on the creative and
business aspects of journalism. It needs academic explorations, keeping
ChatGPT in the lens of technological determinism theory.
Needless to say, the technological environment of a society shapes its
social structure and cultural norms. To bridge the research gap, both
conceptual and theoretical studies can be directed to examine how AI is
influencing and determining the journalistic culture. The use of AI tools in
newsrooms in developing countries and developed countries are different
and the level of technological determinism is also different. Similarly, the
use of AI, metaverse and immersive technologies for business journalism is
different from crime journalism. These dimensions can be addressed by
undertaking adequate scholarly works. It would greatly contribute to the
theoretical enhancement of technological determinism in contemporary times.

4.2.9 Domestication Theory

Domestication theory, developed by Roger Silverstone, is a widely used
theory in the discipline of media, communication and sociology of
technology. It examines studies and descriptions of the mechanisms governing
how people choose to embrace, use or reject technology. When it comes to
integrating technology into people’s lives, Silverstone (1992) identified four
stages that it must go through. Firstly, technology is integrated into daily life
and adapted to customs. Secondly, the user and its surroundings adjust and
change. Thirdly, by influencing the growth of present technologies and
services, these modifications have a positive feedback effect on industrial
innovation processes. Fourthly, conversion, which reveals how much and
how it has come to reflect a household’s culture is a measure of technology’s
conversion.
Domestication theory emphasizes on the approach which aims to
understand how technology is formed, based on the participation of users in
innovation. Individuals and communities work together to adapt an outside
technology so that it can be used in their setting and makes sense. This line of
research relates to how lead users, end users, etc., play a part in long-term
innovation processes (Williams, Stewart & Slack, 2004). Some of the
scholarly works in the area of domestication theory include – mobile phones
and rural adolescents (Guan, Tang, & Wang, 2020), designing and
domesticating an interstructure (Suboticki & Sørensen, 2021), social media
(Zhu & Miao, 2021), Internet technologies (Grošelj, 2021) and online games
(Ask & Sørensen, 2019) and communication and real-life conditions
(Nimrod & Edan, 2022). However, the extant literature has yet to address the
use of artificial intelligence in journalism.
Suffice to say, domestication theory examines the descriptions of the
mechanisms governing how people choose to embrace, use or reject
technology. Since journalism is a dynamic field which is bombarded with
continuous technologies like AI, metaverse and machine learning. ChatGPT,
an AI tool is being massively used by journalists for varied purposes.
ChatGPT is influencing the production, distribution and consumption of
news. The extent to which the journalists are using ChatGPT remains an
interesting topic to explore. So far there have only opinion pieces which
deliberate on this matter. There has been a dearth of scholarly works to
understand the descriptions of the mechanisms governing how journalists
choose to embrace, use or reject AI, metaverse, machine learning and
immersive technologies. To bridge the research gaps, future research can be
embarked on the use of AI in journalism in the light of technological
determinism. Studying how journalists use AI including ChatGPT in
newsrooms through which mechanism will be an extension of domestication
theory and theoretical contribution can be realized.

4.2.10 Development Communication Theory

The purpose of communication theories is that communication be employed
for the development of the people. Communication intends to serve and
encourage the people without any latent and vested interests. It does not have
the intention of manipulation and propaganda rather it is directed for social
change and development. Communication is to develop conscientization or
critical consciousness. The theory was applied to bring about social change.
Couple of theories, out of the many communication theories for development,
have been tested in this situation.
Wilkins and Mody (2001) trace the origin and growth of development
communication as a practical theory from its roots in administrative and
economic research agendas to its more recent emergence as a critical
research tradition that challenges the preeminent development paradigm.
They attempt to reshape the field of development communication. Wilkins
and Mody further question how notions related to development –– modernity,
globalization, postmodernity and reliance – which have influenced
development communication theory. It shows how these concepts support a
materialist and biased vision of development, social justice and social
transformation. Both the scholars promote a communication theory that
embraces social change in conversation with other social science and
humanities approaches, while also providing insight into how rapidly
developing digital and convergent communication technologies have
transformed human societies in ways that were previously unimaginable.
 One approach to development communication theory is the culture-
centered approach (CCA). The CCA is a meta-theoretical paradigm for
mitigating health disparities through the development of communicative
infrastructures for hearing the voices of marginalized communities that have
historically been silenced in privileged discursive spaces. It emphasizes on
engagement, collaboration, dialogue and reflexivity which further provide
methodological tools providing space to the subaltern voices (Dutta, 2018).
The CCA calls for maintaining the infrastructures for communication by
creating communication sovereignty together; determining methods for
original responses; co-creating the resources for help across spaces; creating
diverse networks of solidarity; paying attention to timing; strategizing your
presence; connecting across all the spaces; and creating together several
voice nodes. The communication processes that make up the CCA are
situated in local communities and their interactions with dominant players in
the mainstream. Communication infrastructures within community spaces
must be critically reflective of the locations where silence is produced if we
are to hear different voices, pay attention to the margins within community
formations and seek out the voices at the edges. The CCA aims to use
alternative infrastructures that are accessible and significant to marginalized
populations in order to address the lack of communication infrastructures in
those communities. By making investments in community-important
communication infrastructures, it also aims to increase community capacity.
Some of the scholarly works pertaining to development communication
theory, communication technology and development include – socioeconomic
development (Roztocki, Soja & Weistroffer, 2019), economic growth and
development (David & Grobler, 2020), social dynamics and development
processes (Zheng, Hatakka, Sahay, & Andersson, 2018), human development
(Zelenkov & Lashkevich, 2022), youth empowerment (Ratriyana, Setiawan,
& Yudarwati, 2021), participatory environment communication (Zikargae,
Woldaregay, & Skjerdal, 2021), social media (Wirtz & Zimbres, 2018),
citizen Journalism (Lee, Liu, & Nah, 2023), political communication
(Amankwah & Mbatha, 2019) and rural journalism (Wenzel, 2019).
However, the extant literature has not thrown any light on the role of artificial
intelligence, as part of communication technologies for the attainment of
development and social change.
 Precisely, the existing literature has failed to address the investigations
pertaining to the development of communication theory and use of artificial
intelligence in journalism. The literature has amply discussed development
of communication theory in the light of communication technologies, but not
AI including ChatGPT, metaverse, machine learning and immersive
technologies in journalism. With the arrival of ChatGPT, some of the citizen
journalists and development journalists have started executing this AI tool to
report on socioeconomic issues which remain neglected in the mainstream
media. However, there have been no academic works conducted in the lens
of development communication theory. Theoretical deliberations on
development communication from the perspectives of using AI, metaverse,
machine learning and immersive technologies in development journalism
have not been addressed. To bridge the research gaps, promising studies are
required to find out how AI can be instrumental for social change,
development and empowerment. Investigations can be navigated whether
artificial intelligence could be part of communicative infrastructures for
hearing the voices of subaltern communities which further leads to the state
of empowerment. Studies in these relevant areas could bring extension to the
development of communication theories in general and theories in the area of
development journalism.

4.2.11 Feminist Media Theory

Feminist philosophy serves as the basis for feminist media theory. The
integration of feminist principles and notions into media production,
distribution and employment processes, as well as representational trends in
news and entertainment across platforms and reception, is conducted through
feminist media theory. Without assuming permanent or static gender
disparities, feminist media theory takes gender seriously as a factor that
shapes identity and experiences (Van Zoonen, 1994). As media theories are
spreading like wildfire and becoming more and more accepted, the field of
feminist media studies is becoming more and more explicit about the
importance of international, multidisciplinary research that takes media
convergence and globalization seriously.
Over the years, feminist views of technology have made significant
progress. The growing interaction between feminist academic research and
both professions has greatly benefited from the discipline of science and
technology studies (STS). Modern methods emphasize the mutual shaping of
gender and technology, where both conceptions of technology are used in
origin and outcome of gender interactions (Wajcman, 2010). These
ideologies, including gender determinism and gender essentialism,
emphasize that the gender–technology relationships are flexible in nature.
These discussions demonstrate how technical change processes have an
impact on gender power dynamics. Thus, a critical component of attaining
gender equality remains the politics of technology. Usually, the definition of
technology is framed in terms of male activity. The conventional notions of
creativity, production and work have also come under scrutiny. The societal
assumption that women are technologically unskilled or invisible in technical
fields.
Radical feminism contends that men and women are fundamentally distinct
from one another and that men have constantly dominated and controlled
women’s power, values and desire through male-controlled institutions like
the military and the medical profession (Harding, 1986). Western science and
technology are both heavily entwined in this masculine ambition of
dominating and controlling nature and women. This strategy has been
particularly significant in terms of human biological reproduction technology
(Spallone & Steinberg, 1987). The outcome was too frequently a negative
depiction of women as victims of patriarchal technology.
Some of the scholarly studies on feministic theory in the context of
journalism include moderate feminism (Kurvinen, 2023), women journalists’
condition (Khoo, 2021), online harassment and feminism (Antunovic, 2019),
women journalists’ voice and shifting digitalized journalistic profession
(Khamis & Ibiary, 2022) and alternative feminist journalism (Kamal, 2021).
However, there is not a single scholarly work on feminism, artificial
intelligence and journalism from the perspectives of communication
technologies.
Digital technologies are configured in conjunction with women’s
identities, needs and priorities. Despite the multiplicity of feminism,
concerns about the hierarchical boundaries defining relationships between
men and women are common among feminist thinkers. However, the extant
literature is yet to cover adequately on women’s identities, needs and
priorities; and hierarchical boundaries between men and women in the light
of technological adoption. Feminist discussions about technology keep on
changing. These days, certain women journalists worldwide are proactive in
using AI tools including ChatGPT. This is making them more proficient in
their journalistic profession. Hence, feminist views of technology in general
and artificial intelligence and emerging technologies like metaverse, machine
learning and immersive technologies in particular need to be initiated in the
teaching and research. Both conceptual and empirical studies can be directed
and it could be an extension to the feminist media theory. Revisiting feminist
theory in the light of emerging technologies like metaverse, machine learning
and immersive technologies will be an extension of communication theory
and theoretically contribute to the academic of journalism.

4.3 Concluding Remarks

Communication theory’s epistemology still requires understanding. The
epistemologies of communication theories vary widely. The future of
communication theory lies in the perspectives or subdisciplines including
information theory, interpersonal communication, organizational
communication, socio-cultural communication, political communication,
computer-mediated communication, rhetoric and speech and critical
perspectives on media and communication. However, scholarly studies on
artificial intelligence, metaverse, machine learning and immersive
technologies in the domain of journalism in the prism of media theories is in
the state of infancy. Hardly there are any potential studies conducted so far. In
the future, conducting both conceptual and empirical studies on media
theories pertaining to artificial intelligence and journalism has become the
need of hour.
Precisely, media theories can be revisited to investigate the source,
message, channel, audience and effect while understanding the incorporation
of AI tools including ChatGPT in journalism. Media theories can be tested in
the light of developing and developed countries. Certain interdisciplinary
studies can be conducted to re-examine the validity and effectiveness of
media theories pertaining to the use of AI in journalistic practice. AI,
metaverse, machine learning, deep learning and immersive technologies are
the future of journalism. Technologies used for virtual and meta influencers
are being slowly discussed. Computer-generated imagery (CGI), based on
computer graphics has started influencing the human being. Future studies can
be directed to reexamine media theories pertaining to the role of artificial
intelligence, metaverse, machine learning, deep learning, immersive
technologies, computer-generated imagery and ChatGPT in newsrooms
which could be the extension of the existing media theories. This would be
the major theoretical contribution to the discipline of media and
communication.

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5 Situating Artificial Intelligence in
the Space of Development
Journalism

A Revisit of Development
Communication
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-5

5.1 Introduction
Development communication remains complex in nature. With the passage of
time and technology, the subject of development communication in general
and development journalism in particular is ceaselessly undergoing changes.
Moreover, the very nature of the subject and researches in interdisciplinary
dimensions has made the subject of development communication more
compound and unpredictable. In the course of planning and execution of
development schemes, the discipline of development communication allows
for a better consideration of human behavioral factors in the creation of the
projects’ goals. Citizens are at the core of development communication,
which is indispensable for attaining national development. The potential for
public participation has substantially increased with the development of new
media technologies. Therefore, intelligent democratic governments recognize
the importance of encouraging citizen participation in order to fully
comprehend and address citizens’ needs. In this context, understanding and
revisiting the concept of “Development” has become imperative and
relevant.
5.1.1 Development: An Understanding
Development can be understood from context to context. It is a process of
socioeconomic changes in a diverse manner. To Sen (1999, p. xii, 1, 18),

“Development consists of the removal of various types of

unfreedom that leave people with little opportunity of
exercising their reasoned agency … Development can be
seen … as a process of expanding the real freedoms that
people enjoy … the expansion of the ‘capabilities’ of
persons to lead the kind of lives they value – and have
reason to value.”

Connecting to the concept of “Development”, sustainable development can

be touched upon. Sustainable development endorses the idea of meeting the
needs of the present without bargaining the ability of upcoming generations to
fulfil their needs. While discussing the concept of “Development”, it is
essential to bring inclusive development for deliberations. Inclusive
development attempts to foster people’s participation in the process of
development and lessen the level of socioeconomic inequalities. It tends to
mobile the process toward sustainable and equitable development.
One of the solutions to overcome the barriers of development is
technology. It has the power of fostering the process of communication,
which can also influence the pace of development. In this context, discussing
the role of technology for communication and development is of paramount
importance.

5.1.2 Technology for Communication and Development

The role of technology for development has been immense. It can provide
national and social security; help to sustain the growth of economy; enable
the smooth transition to an information society; improve the quality of life;
and create a culture for society (United Nations University, n.d.). It is
apparent that technological changes can potentially contribute to the
development of underdeveloped countries. Therefore, technological progress
and economic growth are interdependent. However, some of the critics argue
that even though science and technology remain important for economic and
social development, the distribution of innovations is unequally distributed
on a global scale. The equal distribution of knowledge and innovation tend to
develop and retain social structures which further boost knowledge creation
(Mormina, 2019). However, equal distribution of knowledge and innovation
remains a distant dream.
The impact of technology on society has been varied in sorting out
umpteen problems. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have
affected human lives in several ways. Public, private and individual
enterprise have been in tune with technological advancements. Personal,
social and economic growth are directly or indirectly influenced by means of
various technologies. Technology tends to influence the dimensions and
perspective of business in a given society as it creates and affects human
resources and further invites investments in human and social capital
(Roztocki, Soja, & Weistroffer, 2019). Palvia, Baqir, and Nemati (2018)
argue for the utility of technology for development which is built on Sen’s
capabilities approach (Sen, 1999). Lee, Shao, and Vinze (2018) assert that
technology especially information and communication technology act as the
main mobilizer for social transformation. Moreover, Schelenz and Pawelec
(2022) argue for a comprehensive critique on ICT for development from
research and practice perspectives. Madon (2000) underlines that the power
of the internet is immense in fostering socio-economic development.
Blockchain, one of the evolving technologies, has been beneficial for
exercising food subsidy distribution. It has provided a robust solution to the
issues pertaining to food distribution (Pawar, Sonje, & Shukla, 2021).
Blockchain is also an instrument for creating public value and promoting
governance and sustainability. The application of blockchain has fostered
sufficient negotiations between the public and private on environmental
investments (Correa Tavares et al., 2021). Such technology is able to
augment operational volume through decentralization, cutting down the costs,
scalability and traceability and causing the series of public value generation.
With the power of technologies, sustainable economic growth is becoming
increasingly feasible. In a similar argument, the presence of technologies is
there in every professional field including journalism. Therefore, discussing
the impact of technologies in media and communication is general and
journalism in particular is of pivotal importance. Achieving overall
development requires a comprehensive framework in which communication
plays an important role. Communication has the power to facilitate the
purpose and pace of development. It attempts to engage various stakeholders
of developmental projects and fosters the process of development. In this
context, understanding of development communication is of utmost
importance.

5.2 Development Communication

Deliberating development communication (DC) remains an important area in
the field of media and communication. Quebral (2011, p. 6) defines
development communication as “the art and science of human communication
linked to a society’s planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of
dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equity and the larger
unfolding of individual potential”.
The origin of DC is an interesting topic. This concept first emerged at a
University of the Philippines College of Agriculture symposium in 1971. By
then, “development” was not treated seriously and hence was a news beat.
The arrival of new technologies has changed the thought and pace of DC.
Later by the late 1990s, the concept received popularity in Asian countries.
As a result, development received the status of a news beat (Quebral, 2011).
Later, with the changing times and arrival of upgraded technologies, the
concept became more popular and accepted.
DC has two major roles – transforming role and socializing role. With the
transforming role, social change can be attained for bringing quality of life
for human beings. With socializing role, defined values of the society can be
retained. Moreover, the philosophy of DC is different from ordinary form of
communication. DC is purposive, positive and pragmatic in nature. DC is
always purposive as such communication has definite purpose/s or
objective/s. DC is all positive as such type of communication is value-
loaded. It is far from propaganda. DC is pragmatic in nature as it
disseminates particular solutions to particular issues. In this sense, DC is not
abstract in nature.
Since DC is value-loaded and goal-oriented, it cannot be disseminated
without a proper strategy. Proper and timely communication of planning is
required. There could be one strategy or more than one strategy and it all
depends on the goals or objectives. Precisely, the strategy of DC considers
some of the queries: Who is the target audience? What kind of channels do
the audience use? How can language be designed for disseminating the
message? What is the cost involved in the process of communication? What
are the obstacles to the process of communication? DC can be strategized
based on the nature of audience, whether urban, rural or suburban. Like any
other communication, DC pays maximum attention to the nature of audience.
In the process of DC, channel remains an important entity. To disseminate
developmental messages, DC focuses on varied of channels – print,
electronic or digital or amalgamation of these platforms. Based on the type of
message and audience, a channel is chosen for effective execution of DC.
The importance on language cannot be discounted in the process of executing
DC. To make DC effective, language could be English, Hindi or any other
vernacular medium of language. Otherwise, language barriers could pose a
potential barrier in DC. In the process of actualizing DC, resource/fund/cost
remains pivotal. Cost for strategizing the process of DC cannot be sidelined.
This apart, there are other barriers including cultural barriers and
technological barriers that need to be resolved to make DC effective.
Development journalism is a portion of DC. Development journalism can be
practiced through print, electronic or digital media or a combination of any
of these platforms.

5.3 Defining Development Journalism

Kunczik (1988, p. 83) defines development journalism (DJ) as “a notion of
journalism according to which reporting events of national and international
significance should be constructive in the sense that it contributes positively
to the development of the country concerned”. Ogan (1982, p. 3) states
development journalism as

“a concept at the heart of this new information order. It

appears that both the proponents and the critics of the
establishment of this ‘new’ kind of journalism are not clear
 about the concept’s meaning or method of application in any
particular setting.”

Nwosu (1989) asserts that a development journalist can be a best

investigative journalist. Through the output of DJ, people can be empowered.
Development journalism is centered on covering developmental issues,
sidelining the aspects of advertising and public relations. Such nature of
journalism tends to critically analyze, assess and interpret the development
projects and the process of development. News framing in development
journalism is unique as compared to other forms of journalism. DJ
specifically focuses on development issues with the news articles on plans,
policies and execution of developmental projects.
Development journalism can find flaws if there is a difference between
what was the plan of action and what is the output of the project for
development. It can furnish a comparative study on the projects from one
country to another country. Even it can throw light on the developmental
needs of the people which usually differ from country to country.
Development journalism can predict the future of development which largely
entails food, housing, employment and other factors like security and human
dignity.
The concept of development journalism, a subset of DC, emerged with the
idea that it can aid national development. Such nature of journalism can be
traced back to the post Second World War when there was the dawn of DC in
the developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The use of
communication for national development was the core of discussion (Banda,
2007). However, the concept of development journalism gained increasing
attention in 1970s and 1980s. The formation of the New World Information
and Communication Order (NWICO) raised the issues of global flow of
information which subsequently argued for restructuring of the flow,
distribution and practice of information (Padovani, 2008). This development
immensely influenced the scope of development journalism on a global scale.
Kalyango et al. (2017) point out that the journey of development
journalism commenced in developing countries with the intent of working for
developmental objectives. The normative idea of DJ is to mobilize
economic, infrastructure and social mobility in society. In the early twentieth
century, development journalism played a vital role in orienting rural people
about the process of development. By virtue of such nature of journalism, it
could motivate the people to participate in the process of development and
protect the interests of the stakeholders.

5.3.1 Good Governance, Development Journalism and Artificial

Intelligence
Good governance is a word often pronounced in the area of development.
Good governance can be defined as “participatory, consensus oriented,
accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and
inclusive and follows the rule of law” (United Nations ESCAP, n.d.).
Participation of citizens, fair legal framework, transparency, responsiveness
of stakeholders, consensus of citizens, equity and inclusiveness and
accountability of governmental institutions are essential to attain good
governance. All these are factors that AI-driven development journalism
should consider while considering its various reportages. The algorithmic
techniques need be to nuanced to understand and execute the factors in the
process of journalistic narratives. In this way, the AI-enabled developmental
journalism can be instrumental in achieving good governance through the
journalistic process. Moreover, the United Nations is encouraging intense
SDGs-related coverage across the globe. Hence, AI-driven development
journalism and achieving the SDGs are closely interdependent.
Development journalism when laced with AI should pay due attention to
globalization, cultural identity and communication rights. Developmental
messages should stress on governance for the sake of development and social
change. Developmental messages should highlight good governance,
transparency, accountability and participatory approaches to development.
The process of development needs to focus on strengthening independent and
pluralistic media which ultimately can boost good governance and
transparency.
Larrondo Ureta, Meso Ayerdi, Peña Fernández, Marauri Castillo, and
Pérez Dasilva (2022) assert that the future applications of SDGs should be
discussed in the discipline of journalism and communication. This will have
larger implications on good governance. Deliberating on development
journalism and the use of AI tools for social change communication will
prove beneficial for achieving and retaining the status of good governance.
Moreover, it will train the upcoming journalists who will be the potential
stakeholders of good governance.
Musa and Domatob (2007, p. 328) argue,

“Media practitioners, policy makers, and the public in

general have a duty to examine the role of the media in light
of changing realities. Leaders must also take into
consideration that the public has more news sources, both
local and foreign. However, the need to inform the public of
government policies and promote national unity,
development, and local culture remains. Development
journalists may choose to continue to serve as partisan
propagandists, but they will have smaller and smaller
audiences. To be relevant, development journalists will have
to acquire new professional skills and perspectives suitable
to the times. They must also be concerned with credibility.”

Musa and Domatob claim that development journalists should be equipped

with new professional skills. Professional skills could be employing AI
skills in practicing DJ which will make the journalism credible.
Development journalism based on AI techniques can be facilitative,
informative, empowering, reflexive and transformative in nature. Such nature
of journalism can be vital for stakeholders and beneficiaries who are in the
process of social progress.

5.3.2 Artificial Intelligence, Inclusive Journalism and Inclusive

Development
Inclusive journalism is one of the features of development journalism.
Inclusive journalism acts as a catalyst for positive changes in the society.
Such form of journalism fosters overall development by mitigating numerous
obstacles in society. Ford, Gonzales and Quade (2020, p. 61) argue that to
make journalism inclusive,
 “journalism educators and newsroom managers need to
encourage students and journalists to look for the
subconscious assumptions, biases, and preconceptions
reflected in their language and presentation of issues and in
their choice of subjects, sources, or images. Journalism
educators need to treat diversity, equity, and inclusion as
part of their core curriculum.”

In this context, since journalism is a dynamic field that keeps on changing, the
pedagogy on AI needs to be incorporated in the classroom structure. When it
comes to the practice of AI in newsroom set-up, the management should be
liberal and cope with the changing ecology of news media industry.
Inclusive journalism attempts to account for the incredible functions of
journalism in contemporary life. Journalists remain the mainstay in reporting
whatever the event it may be (Rupar & Zhang, 2022). When it comes to
making journalism inclusive, technological innovations like incorporations of
AI in journalism are of utmost importance. As a result, inclusive journalism
and developmental journalism can be realized.
Since the ecology of news comprising the gathering, production and
distribution of news is influenced by AI tools, technological innovations
have started influencing inclusive journalism which further affects the state of
development. Newsrooms powered by AI tools need to engage with all sorts
of communities and render the voice to the voiceless. Technology needs to be
used to achieve and sustain diversity, equity and inclusion in the newsrooms.
Moreover, development journalism cares for diversity, equity and inclusion
while covering any developmental issues. However, inclusive news
storytelling through the process of AI automation remains a challenge. Since
AI-driven journalism is based on automation and algorithm, it could be a
challenge to customize the news stories addressing the issues of gender,
disability, social inclusion, human rights and the like. Hence, attaining
equality, diversity and inclusion in the newsrooms of automation could be a
distant dream.
In this context, Holman and Perreault (2022) have rightly claimed that
achieving gender parity in terms of exposure to innovations in the newsrooms
is not possible. Similar claim may be possible in case of development
journalism empowered by AI tools in newsrooms. Achieving equality,
diversity and inclusion in AI-driven newsrooms is a myth in reality. The risk
of reinforcing prejudices and stereotypes is going to mount only.

5.3.3 Artificial Intelligence, Emancipatory Journalism and

Development Journalism
Needless to say, today’s mainstream journalism is commercially controlled
or state-owned. Emancipatory journalism, an alternative to the existing forms
of journalism, can be evolved with the help of artificial intelligence in the
newsrooms. Emancipatory journalism, a form of emancipatory
communication, can be driven to envision and create substitutions to the
current mediascape.
Milan (2019, p. 1) advocates that emancipatory communication,

“demystifies technology, whether digital or analog,

unpacking its functioning and bringing it closer to the
people’s lived experience. By exposing the contradictions of
the contemporary media landscape, it encourages critical
thinking and public participation in the making of
technology. By supporting the efforts of disempowered
groups and individuals to obtain equality and freedom in
their communications and content production, it opposes the
profit-driven value system promoted by mainstream media
and technology firms.”

Similarly, emancipatory journalism powered by AI techniques can foster

critical thinking and public participation which are required to attain a sense
of empowerment and social justice. Algorithmic techniques can influence the
ecology of development journalism.
Shah (1996, p. 146) has rightly argued that emancipatory journalism “is a
radical approach to journalism that seeks to ‘promote and contribute to
human development’ by encouraging practitioners to be fully involved in
movements for social change.” Similarly, development journalism powered
by AI tools will be a radical approach that can further usher in social change.
In this context, Downing (2001, pp. v–ix) asserts that radical media as
“express[ing] an alternative vision to hegemonic politics, priorities, and
perspectives” tend to “break somebody’s rules, although rarely all of them in
every aspect”. Radical media or radical approach to journalism leads to
social change and development. Social change has become an inevitable
component of a progressive society and algorithm-based journalism cannot
discount it in the process of algorithmic process. AI can encourage and
should have the efforts to attain the state of human development.
Emancipatory journalism is a part of emancipatory communication and in
this context, Rodriguez (2001, p. 20) has rightly enunciated that emancipatory
communication is into “contesting social codes, legitimized identities, and
institutionalized social relations”; the communication paradigm they support
“are empowering the community involved, to the point where these
transformations and changes are possible.”
Development journalism powered by AI can result in media activism in
which grassroots activists can be part of the journalistic process. The
contents or information available in development journalism, are not usually
available in mainstream journalism. Those specific contents are instrumental
for social and political movements. Again, social media activism often
controlled and managed by algorithm has taken media activism to the next
level. There is little doubt that social media activism has bearings on
development journalism as a potential source of collecting the information.
Moreover, social media platforms also act as platforms for disseminating
journalistic contents, especially development in nature. Social media
activism is changing its forms with the advent of newer technologies
including AI and machine learning.
Social media activism, used by grassroots activists to intensify
development-oriented information is not much available in mainstream
media. The non-availability of development-oriented information is not
plentily there because of gatekeeping of news in the spectrum of mainstream
news media. Development journalism also acts as a mode of alternative
campaigns against the so-called mainstream campaigns. It is often embraced
by activists, nongovernmental and organizations. AI can be a new mobiliser
for emancipatory journalism which is also termed as alternative form of
journalism. Development journalism based on AI tools can create and
cultivate alternative public sphere. The nature of coverage can be
instrumental for grassroots communication and carrying out policy advocacy
works and other numerous institutional reforms which ultimately bring social
change and development.

5.3.4 Artificial Intelligence, Development Journalism and

Approaches to Development
Of late, development journalism has started realizing the power of
participatory approach to development. Participatory approach stresses on
quality of life beyond just economic consideration. Citizens can collectively
think about through issues and bring diverse perspectives to the table. The
flow of knowledge is horizontal, people-centric and can acknowledge the
value of experiential or local knowledges. The role of communication is to
facilitate and foster series of dialogues. It tends to foreground the voice
which further connects the struggles.
Various scholars have commented on theories and the practice of
development communication. Kothari’s (2014) radical ecological democracy
highlights alternatives to unsustainable and inequitable model of
development. Cultural diversity is another dimension duly discussed in
radical ecological democracy. Stressing on local-to-global movements,
Kothari endorses the ideas of participation at formal national, regional and
global forums that will result in the conversation of development to be more
people-centric than state-centric. Precisely, Kothari highlights the goals of
direct democracy, local and bioregional economies, cultural diversity,
holistic vision of human well-being and ecological resilience for social
transformation. Social transformation leads to the overall development of a
society. In an alternative mode, Dutta (2015) argues for decolonizing
development communication research and practice.
When development journalism is driven by artificial intelligence or
algorithm techniques, the newsrooms need to be careful in considering the
empowerment and development factors of communities at the margins. When
it comes to development communication in general and development
journalism in particular, attainment of development also includes social
transformations which further require direct democracy, local and
bioregional economies, cultural diversity and holistic vision of human well-
being. Development journalism needs to be systematic and thoughtful while
dealing with factors like direct democracy, local and bioregional economies
and cultural diversity. Moreover, when development journalism is driven by
AI, algorithm needs to pay the required attention to the factors like cultural
diversity, holistic vision of human well-being and ecological resilience
which are essential components for attaining social transformation.
Servaes (2008, p. 206) points out,

“Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such

as computer and telecommunication technology, especially
the Internet, are used to bridge the information and
knowledge divide between the haves and the have-nots.
Having access to the digital highways helps improve access
to education opportunities, increase transparency and
efficiency in government services, enhance direct
participation from the ‘used-to-be-silent public’ in the
democratic process, increase trade and marketing
opportunities, enhance community empowerment by giving
a voice to voiceless groups (e.g. women) and vulnerable
groups, such as those who live with HIV/AIDS, create
networking and income opportunities for women, access to
medical information for isolated communities and increase
new employment opportunities.”

Therefore, the importance of technologies and innovations is quite apparent

to mobilize the process and pace of development.
Further, United Nations Development Programme (2020, pp. 71–72)
highlights,

“Innovation—which gave humans many of the tools to

influence Earth systems—can be harnessed to ease planetary
pressures. Beyond advances in science from multiple
disciplines that can support capturing energy from the sun
and closing material cycles, in novation should be
 understood here also as a social process of change, resulting
from advances in science and technology that are embedded
in social and eco nomic processes. Moreover, innovation is
more than science and technology; it includes the
institutional innovations that ultimately drive social and
economic transformations.”

These days, without technology and innovation, development cannot be

translated into reality. From mobile payments to crowdfunding, digital
innovations are riding high in the domain of development. Payments bank has
become a newer financial innovation (Chakraborty, 2019) which has shown a
roadmap in the domain of financial inclusion. With the advent of various
technologies, digital social communication also remains important for
accumulating social capital and economic development (Chakraborty &
Biswal, 2023a Precisely, like any other innovations, AI-driven development
journalism needs to be careful in addressing the various developmental
issues. Journalism through the power of algorithm should pay due attention to
institutional innovations and as well as providing voice to the voiceless.
Tufte and Mefalopulos (2009) advocate for civil spaces for fostering
dialogue which further fuels participatory communication and social change.
There is little doubt that participatory communication is the bedrock of social
change and development. In the context of AI-driven development
journalism, the coverage ought to emphasize on community-driven
development by focusing on participatory communication. The algorithm
techniques need to understand the dialogue and community participation
which are to be covered in course of developmental journalism.
Jeffrey Sachs, the author of the book The End of Poverty: Economic
Possibilities for Our Time has been acknowledged for his study on
sustainable development, economic growth and the attempt to mitigate
poverty. Sachs (2006, p. 312) argues “Africa’s governance is poor because
Africa is poor. Crucially, however, two other things are also true. At any
given level of governance, African countries tend to grow less rapidly than
similarly governed countries in other parts of the world.”
Sachs argues that instead of the poor being exploited, technology has been
the primary driver of promoting the poor in the world. The ability to harness
new technologies has allowed society to increase labor productivity. The
more places that underwent changes as a result of the Industrial Revolution,
like a chain reaction, the more they interacted with one another and laid the
groundwork for additional innovations, increased economic growth and
increased technological activity. Technology has been instrumental for
economic growth, but at the cost of exploitation of the underprivileged.
However, in certain cases like the use of technologies for education and
social empowerment can be given critical thought for greater interest of
society (Chakraborty & Biswal, 2022).
In this context, Sachs (2006, p. 312) points out,

“As a country’s income rises, governance improves for two

major reasons. First, a more literate and affluent society is
better able to keep the government honest by playing a
watchdog role over government processes. Newspapers,
television, books, telephones, transport and now the
Internet, all of which are vastly more available in rich
countries, enhance this watchdog function and empower
civil society. Second, a more affluent society can afford to
invest in high-quality governance. When governments are
backed by ample tax receipts, the civil service is better
educated, extensive computerization improves information
flows, and the public administration is professionally
managed.”

So, mass communication driven by technologies is inevitable for

socioeconomic development. Precisely, technology can play a key role in
developing a society.
Sachs is very much critical of artificial intelligence. The influential
economist claims that a “tech tax” is required if the world is to avoid a
dystopian future in which AI causes the concentration of global wealth in the
hands of a small number of individuals. To ensure that the benefits of AI are
dispersed fairly across society and the world, Sachs proposed both tax
reform and a radical rethink of intellectual property laws. To ensure that the
benefits of AI are dispersed fairly across society and the world, Sachs
proposed both tax reform and a radical rethink of intellectual property laws.
Sachs further proposes,

“The marginal cost of production of AI is effectively zero.

The ability to make these technologies available to the
poorest countries at no cost is an evident option. So we
should be taking special care to make sure that this
revolution can reach everybody (The Guardian, 2018).”

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the larger talking points
in the domain of developmental goals (Sachs, 2015), and AI has opened up
new avenues in this direction. The plans and programs for the achieved
SDGs have started incorporating AI (Goralski & Tan, 2020). Therefore, the
rise of AI in the era of sustainable development has been increasingly
discussed. To Sachs, we are now living in an age of SDGs, during which
time the world’s nations will need to work together and provide support in
order to tackle some of the most difficult issues, such as persistent extreme
poverty, social exclusion, economic injustice, bad governance and
environmental degradation. Suffice to say, the potential impact of AI on
productivity, growth, inequality, market power, innovation and employment is
highlighted by technological advancements.
The Nobel Memorial Prize winner in Economic Sciences in 2008, Paul
Robin Krugman argues that the potential for technology to replace labor is a
common economic worry. Horses and buggies became essentially obsolete
with the development of cars. Jobs that are replaced by AI are the ones that
AI can complete more quickly than humans. Because AI can complete these
tasks faster than people, it frees up the time that people would have needed to
laboriously complete them. Krugman acknowledges that ChatGPT and AI in
general could harm the economy by replacing “knowledge workers”, but he
also believes that new jobs will eventually take their place. Whether or not
ChatGPT poses a threat to knowledge workers as a whole depends on how
impressive its learning capabilities are (Berkeley Economic Review, 2023).
The implications of ChatGPT, an AI tool, have been discussed by
Krugman who asserts that it might be more effective than people at
performing tasks like reporting and writing. Large language models, like
ChatGPT, will increase economic productivity. However, AI tools will
likely hurt some workers whose skills have already been undervalued. The
computing revolution and the electrification of industry, two historical
innovations, took decades to have any significant effects on the economy.
Nobody really knows how much of the work currently performed by humans
would eventually be replaced by models like ChatGPT.
Krugman asserts, “Large language models in their current form shouldn’t
affect economic projections for next year and probably shouldn’t have a
large effect on economic projections for the next decade.” He further points
out, “ChatGPT and whatever follows are probably an economic story for the
2030s, not for the next few years” (Insider, 2023). Krugman further argues,
“History suggests that large economic effects from A.I. will take longer to
materialize than many people currently seem to expect” (Yahoo, 2023).
Project Syndicate, founded in 1995, publishes commentary and reports on
global topics including AI. AI is bringing transformations in healthcare
facilities across the globe. This is a case which can be potentially cited here.
Google recently revealed that AI can identify breast cancer earlier than
radiologists. And that is merely the most recent illustration of how machine
learning and big data are enabling the development of novel medical
diagnoses, therapies and discoveries. Any data that can help direct future
medical research is included in real-world data obtained through AI. To
choose patient candidates most likely to benefit from cutting-edge and
experimental therapies, for instance, cancer researchers have long used
anonymized health records. For instance, the National Cancer Institute is
getting ready to start the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative, a large-scale, ten-
year project that will compile data from every child and young adult cancer
patient in the nation in order to identify new targets and therapeutic
approaches. Likewise, The Big Data for Breast Cancer (BD4BC) initiative
of the Komen Foundation has launched a project using algorithmic analysis to
elucidate biological mechanisms in some of the most challenging breast
cancers to treat.
By using AI, researchers at Roche have created a prognostic scoring
system to predict how patients would react to various cancer treatment
options based on a variety of factors since acquiring a database with
anonymized data for 2.2 million cancer patients. A promising strategy to meet
the demand for more precise detection, classification and prediction of
patients with breast cancer is to leverage AI advancements and the growing
digitalization of pathology (Project Syndicate, 2020).
AI for mitigating inequality in the world is a landmark effort. The idea that
only the wealthy benefit from technology is a prevalent misconception.
However, the technologies that underpin devices like iPhones and robotic
vacuums have the potential to advance prosperity and development
throughout the Global South. The misconception that consumers in
developing countries do not benefit from technological advancements is
widespread among those who monitor digital trends.
Technology has the ability to both exacerbate and lessen global inequality.
This is due to the fact that AI is capable of much more than just powering the
appliances; it can also completely transform the way in which business,
finance, logistics, education, healthcare and disaster relief are provided in
the Global South. Developing nations all over the world are already being
transformed by AI. The needs for post-quake reconstruction in Nepal are
being mapped and analyzed by machine learning. AI tutors are assisting
young students in Africa who are lagging behind in their coursework. Big
data analytics is being used by humanitarian aid organizations to streamline
the distribution of supplies to refugees fleeing war and other adversity.
Furthermore, rural farmers in my native India use AI applications to increase
crop yields and profits. In developing nations, for instance, drones could be
used to transport medical supplies to outlying hospitals if the necessary
funding was provided. This is already taking place in rural Rwanda, where a
special collaboration between the health ministry and Silicon Valley-based
startup Zipline is enabling doctors in difficult-to-reach clinics to order blood
by text message, which will then have it delivered by parachute in a matter of
minutes (Project Syndicate, 2018).
Another case on climate change can be discussed where AI can be
potentially used. Low-income country negotiators on climate issues can now
evaluate the effects of draft agreements on the laws, capabilities and interests
of their own nation in real-time thanks to AI copilots. Massive data sets can
be analyzed using this technology, and patterns can be found and behavior
can be forecast. It might be starting at the international negotiating table, the
solution to the interconnected crises of climate, biodiversity and equity.
 By shedding light on the previously ignored connections between
biodiversity and climate issues, AI, for instance, could significantly improve
international negotiations. Such findings would support the UN Convention
on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change, the two organizations that have been negotiating agreements, having
a more formalized, interconnected relationship. For instance, AI could
greatly enhance international negotiations by drawing attention to the
connections between biodiversity and climate issues that were previously
ignored. Such results would support a formalized, interconnected
relationship between the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and
the UN Convention on Biological Diversity – the two organizations that have
been negotiating agreements.
The wider consequences of agreements like the Paris Climate Accords
and the numerous unfinished sectoral initiatives addressing issues like water,
energy security and oceans could also be clarified by the applications of AI.
To improve international cooperation, at least 250,000 treaties have been
negotiated so far (Project Syndicate, 2023). However, all this diplomacy has
been disappointing. With AI’s ability to predict outcomes and perform
accurate analyses, this issue might be solved. By sorting through the vast
amounts of data contained therein, AI can find any gap, contradiction, or
conflict in these treaties. By doing so, it will be possible to avoid
duplication of effort, resolve conflicts and make sure that no significant issue
is left unresolved.
The use of AI tools can be maximized by the NGOs in the direction of
community outreach initiatives. NGOs are the change agents for social
change and development. Aaishwari Chouhan Joshi, Director, Community
Engagement and Partnerships, Canadian Centre for Immigrants, Canada
points out,

AI tools are proving to be valuable assets for community

outreach efforts by non-profit organizations, like us, in
North America. NGOs are increasingly turning to AI for
basic tasks like social media analysis, deployment of
chatbots and virtual assistants, and to assist in data-driven
decision making. From the marketing perspective, AI is
 supporting targeted advertising and outreach activities.
Canada is a multi-cultural country and grassroots
organizations are turning to AI-powered translation tools to
help bridge language barriers by ensuring that information
and resources are accessible to individuals from different
linguistic backgrounds. One other trend that is picking up
lately is related to NLP (natural language processing).
Although not widely used at this time, but some bigger non-
profits are using NLP algorithms to analyze and understand
community feedback, sentiments, and concerns expressed in
emails, social media posts, or online forums. This is helping
them identify common issues and improve the organization’s
response and re-frame outreach strategies.

Citing the case where AI tools are used for development communication,
Chouhan Joshi further points out,

At the Canadian Centre for Immigrants, we are leveraging

AI to improve our social media strategy primarily. Multiple
AI tools have enabled us to gather valuable insights about
our target audience, their preferences, and behaviour on
social media platforms. This information has empowered us
to create more engaging and relevant content, tailor-made to
resonate with our audience, resulting in increased reach,
user engagement, and community interaction.

AI can be useful to make news stories effective which could bring societal
changes. However, AI is not everything in journalism and this technology
cannot alone bring social change and development. Without human
intelligence, this AI cannot help journalists to create and develop original
and lived experience of people pertaining to any issues. Technology cannot
bring any process-driven stories which are indispensable for socio-
economic development. In this context Jaideep Hardikar, journalist, author
and researcher based in India argues,

I believe in telling the stories on lived experiences of

everyday people; original and credible stories that convey
human emotions in the context of broader socio-economic
processes – like agrarian crisis, migration, climate change, or
natural resource conflicts. That will keep me relevant as a
journalist and writer in the era of virtual reality. AI tools
could help me is to sharpen my background research to set
the many contexts in which to locate my stories.

Lalatendu Acharya, a faculty member, Social Science, Indiana University

Kokomo, Indiana, the United States, is associated with public health
communications and advocacy. Discussing ChatGPT in the light of
development journalism, Acharya asserts,

Experts have divided AI innovation into three segments;

Automation, Augmentation and Generation and Chat GPT is
the latest phenomenon in content generation. Therein lies its
potential to invigorate journalism and also the inherent
challenges. AI has been used by journalists for over a
decade and been very useful in terms of news aggregation,
automation and many translation applications. But the new
generative capabilities of AI (as underlined by ChatGPT)
takes news away from its originality and creative quotient.
ChatGPT also underlines that it cannot replace the unique
journalistic skills of critical thinking, investigative
journalism and complex information synthesis. Further,
ensuring accuracy, ethical standards, objectivity and fairness
is something that human hands have to do. ChatGPT will
also not be able to maintain factual accuracy and check for
disinformation, misinformation as AI output is dependent
 on the quality of its sources. Generative AI like ChatGPT do
not say no when they see an information gap or do not have
the answer but rather, they make it up. That is a huge
disadvantage. It replicates bias as its dependent on its
sources which could be biased. Further, ChatGPT does not
give due credit which is important in the journalistic world.
So, the challenges that generative AI systems like ChatGPT
pose is their ability to distinguish fact from fiction, verify,
build salience, filter noise, manage disinformation/
misinformation and building trust. That said, ChatGPT is
useful to journalists in terms of simplifying concepts (like
making science more accessible to lay audience/ common
man); help generate profiles, questions for interview,
outlines etc. ChatGPT is a useful tool and cannot be kept out
of the newsrooms. End of the day, a tool is as good or bad
as its user.

There is no doubt that developmental journalism is quite indispensable in the

countries like India. Purusottam Singh Thakur, a contributor with People’s
Archive of Rural India (PARI), an alternative media platform in India and
former journalist associated with NDTV News Channel, New Delhi, asserts,

India is grappling with number of developmental issues –

agriculture, occupational hazards, migration, displacement,
credit facilities, health, decline of traditional media and
traditional knowledge, and social and economic disparity.
Media has the responsibility of covering the issues for
deliberations. However, some argue that technological
innovations in the field of journalism have improved the
process collection, distribution and consumption of news.
For example – Farmers’ suicides in India have been covered
through data journalism.
Singh Thakur further points out,

Some of the developmental issues which are not getting

judicious space in mainstream media. Displacement is
getting rampant in the outskirts of all big and small cities in
India. Farmers and villagers are selling their lands for the
construction of buildings. They are becoming landless and
slowly they are isolated from agriculture, the mainstay of
farmers’ livelihood. Migration issues in Odisha (an eastern
state in India) and Chhattisgarh (a state in Central India) are
rarely covered and discussed in news media. For an
instance, the migration issue is becoming grave from
Bhubaneswar (State Capital of Odisha, India) to
Bhawanipatna (headquarter of Kalahandi district in the state
of Odisha). There is a need to discuss social benefits
schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which attempts to
improve livelihood security in rural areas by giving at least
one adult household member who volunteers to perform
unskilled manual labor at least 100 days of wage
employment in a fiscal year. Sometimes there are coverage,
but not in sustained manner, but in an episodic manner.

In this context, for more structured and timeline study, technological

interventions including AI tools can be beneficial for developmental
journalism. AI tools can equip journalists to compile and facilitate the data
for comparison and comprehensive presentation of the data for impactful data
stories to the audience. Using AI tools, journalists can easily find out
farmers’ suicide cases in a detailed manner. The journalists can know which
state has the highest number of suicide cases. Journalists can know the
reasons for farmers’ suicide cases from the datasets. Infographics and data
visualization can be done for presentation of news in terms of facts and
figures. At the same time, AI tools are instrumental in keeping the farmers
informed about the drought. As a result, farmers will be aware of the
imminent drought and this could possibly mitigate the farmers’ suicides.
These technological tools should be optimally used for the farming
communities and farmer producers’ organizations. News media should cover
and follow this aspect in the process of developmental journalism. However,
the use of AI tools should be process-driven by understanding the issues of
farmers and structural problems in the Indian agriculture system.
AI-driven development journalism needs to understand all these
dimensions of development and social change communication and
subsequently can act up on it. The narratives of journalism for development
ought to be based on people’s paradigm. AI-driven journalism should pay
attention to people in their context; power redistribution and democratization;
bottom-up approach for structural transformation; and mobilizing dialogue
between the citizens and the government bodies. Such a form of journalistic
communication needs to deliberate on social change communication.
Alternative approaches to development which are feasible that the
development journalism can take up and mobilize them for a cause. It can
further amplify myriad grassroots initiatives meant for the overall
development of a society. If all is well and systematically orchestrated, AI
through development journalism can redefine the essence and level of
participation which is further required for the attainment of the SDGs.

5.3.5 Development Journalism and Artificial Intelligence in

Global North and Global South
Development journalism acts as a change agent for bringing development in
society. Journalists’ functions for the sake of bringing development are
complex in developing countries. Needless to say, journalism is used for
investigation, safeguarding democracy and human rights (Musa, 1997). The
scope for development journalism is immense in developing countries where
plenty of sustainable development projects are in operational stages. Such
form of journalism can take stock of the situation at the ground level of
projects. However, functioning of development journalism is different
between developing and developed nations which largely raises the debates
and situates the space of journalism for development in the Global North and
Global South. When compared the developmental news coverage on climate
change between Australia and Bangladesh, a study finds that the
interpretation of developmental news in the Global North and Global South
is different. In addition, the study claims for the cross-national strategies to
tackle environmental issues (Das, 2019). There is little doubt that
developmental news coverage on climate change gets a lukewarm response
from news media outlets.
Development journalism particularly journalism on science reporting in
developing countries are encountered with numerous issues – excessive rely
on foreign sources, particularly from the media sources of the Global North;
low level of domestic science news in ecology of news; and influence of
politics on reporting on science. Even though development journalism
covering the aspect of reporting on science in developing countries is
important, it enjoys a low status. The editors in the newsrooms are not keen
on science reporting. This can weaken the ability of newsrooms in the Global
South to adopt and emulate various technologies in the long run. Ultimately,
developing countries and the entire Global South will lag behind in the
process of globalization (Nguyen & Tran, 2019). Similarly, when the
question comes to the incorporation of artificial intelligence in newsrooms in
the Global South, it looks paradoxical. The newsrooms in the Global South
may not be able to take up AI tools to make the development journalism
successful and more insightful.
Nassanga, Eide, Hahn, Rhaman, and Sarwono (2017) points out the
coverage of development journalism especially environment journalism in
the Global South is relatively low compared to the Global North. The
authors suggested a bottom-up approach so that citizens can take part actively
in the process of development journalism. In this context, political analyst as
well as journalist Saurav Dutt comments,

“These international outlets propagate the image of a less

developed, struggling Global South to amplify the myth that
success and development are alien concepts to them, often
beholden to lobby groups and political diasporas that have
their own mission at hand” (Irfan, 2020).
Salaverría and de-Lima-Santos (2021) point out that the Global North is
much ahead of the Global South in terms of technological adoptions. The
field of journalism keeps on adopting new technologies and the ecology of
news media has been acquainted with the changing trends. However, news
media industries which tend to focus on development journalism are grossly
lagging behind in terms of technological adoptions. Similarly, the cases seem
to be similar in the use of AI tools for development journalism in the Global
North and Global South. The field of development journalism needs
technological applications like AI, but in vain. The profession of journalism
for development is being negotiated in southern nations.
It is often found the diffusion and execution of technology, research and
development is limited in the Global South. When the Global South is
struggling to catch up with the information society, the Global North is riding
high and accommodating the technological disruptions. Moreover, the Global
North keeps on dominating the ecology of news media in the Global South.
When it comes to the space of development journalism, it is in a bad shape in
the Global South. The advent of ICTs including AI techniques, blockchain,
computer-generated imagery (CGI) and metaverse may not help the
development journalists in the nations in the Global South. AI is the new
engineering of developmental news and developmental journalism. However,
it will take time to be fully operational in the Global South. The media
imperialism is increasingly dominant in the Global North over the Global
South in accessing media technologies including AI is quite apparent.
Willems (2014, p. 18) has rightly claimed,

“Northern-based media continue to represent the Global

South in negative terms, as a place where poverty,
corruption, disease, and famine reign. However, apart from
critiquing the role of the media in the creation of these
images, the field of media and communication studies needs
to reflect more critically on the way in which it has been
constructing and imagining the Global South in its academic
books, chapters, journal articles, and conferences. As I have
argued in this article, media and communication in the
 Global South often continue to be seen as negative imprints
of ‘the West’.”

5.4 Development Journalism and Artificial

Intelligence: The Way Forward
The normative idea of practicing development journalism commenced in the
Global South with an intention to boost socio-economic development. There
is no doubt that such form of journalism has the distinction from ordinary
form of communication because of its very nature of information and
communication. Moreover, with the advent and incorporation of artificial
intelligence and algorithmic techniques, development journalism will be
pushed to the next level with more value addition meant for social change
communication.
The SDGs remain important for everyone across nations. In this context,
news media has the ability to raise awareness about the SDGs worldwide
(World Economic Forum, 2020). Moreover, development journalism has a
lot to do for the SDGs through AI tools. AI through development journalism
can fetch accountability stories to the audience. However, importantly
developmental journalists through their reports need to encourage public
awareness and public discourse pertaining to various projects and funds
spent on them. The AI-enabled coverage should provide solutions to the
problems and focus more on the context and process rather than on
sensational outcomes. Development journalism should focus on explanation
and interpretation rather than on negative sides of any events. To make these
happen, the capacity building of journalists for understanding about social
change communication is the need of the hour. For optimizing the capacity of
journalists and to make them AI literates, training of journalists should be
conducted at regular intervals.
Technology often comes to the rescue of communication industry. AI is
going to reshape the field of development journalism and can be a new tool
of emancipatory journalism. The algorithmic techniques can reshape the
scopes and functions of development journalism. Subsequently, this form of
journalism can act as emancipatory journalism which is an alternative to the
usual structure of mainstream media with limited functions for social change
communication.
Tellingly, there are gaps between the use of technologies including AI in
newsrooms in the Global South and Global North. If algorithmic techniques
are not well-taken, then the use of AI for development journalism in the
Global South will be in quandary. On the contrary, if AI tools in the
newsrooms in the Global South will do well for developmental journalism, it
may result in de-Westernization and decolonization of development
communication, both in theory and practice. Indeed, it will be a radical shift
which will redefine the discipline of development communication in general
and development journalism in particular. AI tools will be pathbreaking and
will redirect the future course of development journalism, which have
bearings on social change, participation, development and empowerment.
To realize the optimum power of AI for development journalism in a
positive, purposive and pragmatic manner, a proper guideline or the
framework for development journalism is the need of the hour. Newsrooms,
development practitioners, NGOs, government machinery, media educators
and other stakeholders of society need to work hand in hand so that AI can be
a boon for development journalism. Along with AI techniques, other
technical treatments like immersive technologies, blockchain, computer-
generated imagery (CGI) and metaverse need to be critically examined,
assessed and tested for their positive, purposive and pragmatic approach. In
doing so, the real power of technologies can be derived to the fullest and the
goal of development journalism can be realized. The abstract power of
technologies can be translated into reality, resulting in the SDGs to be
fulfilled across the globe. Actualizing the SDGs through newer and cutting-
edge communication technologies would be a new landscape in the domain
of development communication and development journalism.

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6 Applications of Artificial
Intelligence in Journalism

Situating the Changing Nature of

Technologies in the Ecology of News
Media
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-6

6.1 Introduction
The study of media ecology remains an integral part of the discipline of
media and communication. Precisely, media ecology is a comprehensive
study of media, communication and technology and how these influence
humans and society (West & Turner, 2014). Technologies continue to affect
and mould the process of journalism – production, distribution and
consumption of news. Digitalisation has revolutionized the news ecosystem
and newsroom management. The inventions of the printing press to computers
have revolutionized the process of media (Dovbysh, 2021), and the media
ecology keeps on changing.
Digitalization has been a transformative agent in newsroom management
on a global scale. Technological innovations have erased the geographical
boundaries between the international media and local media. The
international media and local media are subscribing to each other’s news
contents. Local news can be consumed in any corner of the world. Again,
hyper-local stories are getting buzzed in the international arena. At the same
time, international news has emanated abundant perspectives on the local
audiences. There has been blurring lines between international audience and
local audience to specified news contents. Nowadays, hybrid news
organizations laced with traditional and digital formats have been widely
practiced. All these developments have changed the very nature of the
ecology of news media and newsroom management. Editorial strategies keep
on evolving with the changing pace of news and audiences’ needs and
demands. The traditional functions ascribed to journalists in the age of the
internet and social media are witnessing changes and establishing new roles
and responsibilities of journalists which is subjected to decay again sooner
or later.
As technologies are increasingly used in the profession of journalism, the
study pertaining to recurring shifts in journalism is drawing the attention of
interdisciplinary disciplines. Moreover, with the artificial intelligence (AI)
tools being used in newsrooms, the ecology of news media is taking
paradigm shifts which further needs to be discussed.

6.2 Changing Nature of Ecology of News Media

With the advent of new communication technologies, the ecology of news
media comprising the production, distribution and consumption of news is
ceaselessly undergoing changes. The changes in the ecology tend to influence
the criteria of newsworthiness, power structure and agenda-setting of
journalism (Jensen & Mortensen, 2016). The changing nature of production,
distribution and consumption of news remains dynamic and keeps on
changing with the changes in technologies and time. Gathering, production
and distribution of news have been influenced by the use of AI tools in the
newsrooms. Newsroom management has been dynamic in dealing with the
changing nature of news from time to time. Moreover, the concerned
management is ceaselessly witnessing changes in the various stages of
journalistic narratives.

6.2.1 Gathering of News

News gathering remains an important stage in the ecology of news media.
Newsroom management also remains to its toe to procure news of varied
kinds. News gathering includes sourcing information, generating or creating
story ideas, understanding and identifying news trends and extracting or
mining relevant information or content. While procuring the contents, they
should enjoy the properties of news values like immediacy, proximity,
consequences, prominence, oddity and conflict.
Artificial intelligence tools are beneficial for gathering of news which is
a part of data-driven production. AI is instrumental in the gathering of
materials which ultimately help the editorial department. With the advent of
AI in the newsrooms, accessible information has been widely feasible. Since
news consumers want plenty of content every day, ultimately journalists are
required to manage with flood of information in the ecology of news media.
Moreover, journalists need to be careful to procure the data or information
which are relevant and timely for the audiences. In this context, Beckett
(2019, p. 22) has rightly claimed, “We have an internal tool that combines
data analysis and language generation systems to write all or parts of stories
and to alert journalists to potentially interesting patterns in data”. Machine
learning algorithms enable journalists to identify the current trends in terms
of news.

6.2.2 Production of News

The production of news cannot be ignored or underestimated in newsroom
management. Production of news, an integral part of the ecology of news
media, entails the creation of contents, editing, packaging and repackaging of
contents as per news consumers’ needs and demands. production of contents
could be text, video or a mixture of the two. Usually, the production of news
is slow without using the technical tools.
AI can intensify the production process of news. To make the news
content free from grammatical and spelling errors; sub-editors, copy editors
and journalists are employing Grammarly which is based on AI techniques.
AI tools are being used for the purpose of translation. AI has been helpful in
verifying news contents that enhance the credibility of contents. Tools like
The Factual, Check, Logically, Full Fact, Fabula AI, Grover, Sensity AI,
ClaimBuster, Adverif.ai, Alto Analytics, Blackbird AI, Defudger and Bot
Sentinel verify the news contents. Various important functions like speech-to-
text, translation in the mode of automation, identifying the image videomaking
and narrative text generation are becoming possible as AI techniques are
coming into newsrooms.
AI is enabling journalists to make automatic tagging of contents by
detecting and extracting relevant keywords. Dialect recognition is becoming
feasible. AI is fostering automated content creation which is required for the
functioning of social media. Starting from RSS feeds to emailing, AI is being
increasingly used for manipulating the text, and video or a mixture of the two.
AI is able to create posts on social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter
and the contents on these platforms are increasingly getting apparent.
It is the algorithm that matters a lot in the ecology of news media. Facial
recognition technology driven by AI technologies is there to recognize the
celebrities present in a function. It is useful for lifestyle journalism.
ReporterMate, a tool used by The Guardian, is an instance of augmented
journalism that manifests the amalgamation of AI power and human
(Evershed, 2019). Machine learning can be used for tracking the political
fund or other allied area to maintain transparency. Whatever the type or
nature of journalism, the power of AI and machine learning is there.

6.2.3 Distribution of News

Distribution of news is the end stage in the ecology of news media.
Newsroom management remains updated in distributing the end product i.e.,
news contents to its target audience. Distribution of news is interconnected
with the consumption of news contents. Personalisation and marketing of
news content is a striking area while strategizing the dimension of
distribution. Curating and optimizing the contents are becoming possible in
terms of distributing news. Tracing and retaining audiences by understanding
their behaviour; and monetisation or subscription of news contents are areas
that cannot be ignored at any point of time.
The above-mentioned areas can be strategically chalked out by AI tools
and machine learning. AI techniques have defined the distribution of news
contents whatever the platforms – print, electronic and digital – of media are.
Zaffarano (2019) points out that news media organisations like The New York
Times have employed AI-driven systems and even small news media
establishments are into certain mechanisms like dynamic paygates, which are
based on AI techniques. Precisely, AI attempts to find out what a consumer
does with news content. Ultimately, it helps in strategizing the modus
operandi pertaining to the distribution of news. The levels of audience
engagement like shares, comments, pageviews and time on page are being
better understood by AI techniques. The content strategy is getting redefined;
80% of organizations have resorted to automation technology which is fast
becoming a mainstream concept .
By using AI techniques, the ecology of news media is adopting to
automating content creations. The user-generated content (UGC) is getting
initiated and strengthened the relationships between the news media and
news consumers. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of news content is
renewed with AI tools. Making news content catchy and readable enriches
the value of the news content. AI is fuelling the tracking system that stresses
on numerous topics and keywords. The management of online news contents
including content creation, organization and distribution by employing AI
intensifies the marketing of news which save resource and money. Providing
personalization of news is becoming possible. Analysing the predictive news
content provides solutions to issues in the marketing of news media.
Chatbots driven by AI measures understand the behavioral patterns of
news consumers. Bringing AI techniques facilitates the ecology of news
media, which further caters to the needs and demands of the audiences.
Chatbots collect information on audiences’ feedback, opinions or suggestions
on specific news content. Chatbots are also instrumental in checking news by
managing social media outlets. AI algorithms are able to bring new insights
that can tailor the news content to meet the needs and demands of the
audiences.
Overall, with the incorporation of AI tools in newsrooms, the ecology of
news media is getting influenced. The journalistic narratives pertaining to the
gathering, production and distribution of news is redefined. There have been
turns and twists in the elements of news and news values. The entire
communication process from source to the destination is ceaselessly
undergoing sea changes. Newsroom management is being prodded by
continuous technological innovations. It is observed that some of the
newsrooms have started using AI tools by skipping certain intermediary
technologies and phases of technological adoption. The adoption of AI
technologies in those newsrooms has set an example of leap-frogging in the
ecology of news media. The changes in the ecology of news media and
newsroom management indicate the phases of the communication revolution.
Precisely, the dimensions like use of AI tools in bringing editorial
transparency needs to be critically understood. However, human judgement
and interventions remain pivotal in planning, executing and monitoring the
ecology of news media. Discussing the changing nature of ecology in news
media raises discussions on algorithmic journalism and computational
journalism.

6.3 Artificial Intelligence-Driven Journalism and

Ecology of News Media
With the use of artificial intelligence techniques, various concepts like
algorithmic journalism or automated journalism or robot journalism and
computational journalism are increasingly buzzed. With the employment of
AI techniques, new possibilities have been opening up in the spectrum of
journalism. Algorithmic journalism or automated journalism or robot
journalism and computational are amply discussed these days. Graefe (2016)
states automated journalism as “the process of using software or algorithms
to automatically generate news stories without human intervention”. With the
power of algorithm, journalism industry is being executed in a different
manner. Modern algorithms enable journalists to create news stories from
scratch. The process of news production pertaining to specific news stories
can be potentially replicated by a machine. Such type of machine
interventions has remarkably changed the ecology of news media and
newsroom management.
The emergence and execution of artificial intelligence and natural
language generation (NLG) have transformed the journalistic profession.
Caswell and Dörr (2018, p. 477) point out NLG as “the automatic creation of
text from digital structured data”. NLG is the use of AI techniques to create
written or spoken news stories from the data. NLG includes human-to-
machine and machine-to-human interaction. NLG potentially works through
six stages – content analysis, data understanding, document structuring,
sentence aggregation, grammatical structuring and language presentation
(Kotenidis & Veglis, 2021). NLG assists journalists and news content
creators not to create repetitive content. As a result, it saves newspersons’
time and enable them to take up more creative and challenging endeavours.
NLG can provide news consumers customized and personalized news
content in the format of human-like language. News consumers are always
interested in customized news contents. NLG has a proven track record of
affecting journalism in terms of automating news and suggests few news
stories out of plenty of data on current affairs. It saves the audiences from
being bombarded with numerous news stories. The power of NLG’s report
automation remains important in providing the audience a long-term
sustainability of news from news media outlets. The implications of NLG
have the bearings on the ecology of news media and newsroom management.
Modern news industry caters to services like automated content
production, data mining, news dissemination and content optimization which
are better mobilized by AI techniques. Data mining remains an important
stage in journalistic production. Quakebot is a tool of data mining. Chatbots
and other such automated tools are being used for data mining (Kotenidis &
Veglis, 2021). With the power of algorithm, the mining and analysis of Big
Data is becoming possible. The stage of news dissemination is influenced by
AI techniques. News audiences are on the internet bank on news aggregators,
search engines and social media sites. These sources of news are heavily
relied on algorithms and automated systems which are further suitable for
audiences’ requirements. Algorithms techniques are fostering the interactive
features of news which further enhances the scope of news among the users.
The recent developments in algorithmic technology have mobilized the
content strategy of the media houses to focus on target audiences. Machine
learning and AI tools are facilitating the news audience to have customized
news experiences. Algorithmic impact on automated content production, data
mining, news dissemination and content optimization have radically
transformed the ecology of news media. However, algorithm journalism is
not free from flaws. There are certain ethical and moral concerns which
dilute the credibility of journalism as a profession. Usually, journalists work
in an atmosphere which is laced with the logics of media production and
ethical decisions. Moreover, journalistic practice is a somewhat creative
affair in nature, which is based on social interaction. However, algorithm
journalism, based on machine learning and AI tools, does not accommodate
creative and intuitive judgments while engaging with audience through news
content.
 Algorithmic journalism is otherwise known as automated journalism or
robot journalism which entails automatic production of news content through
computer algorithms. It can make the journalistic process cheaper and faster .
Various business models in news industry are witnessing transformations.
Thanks to the automation in the process and profession of journalism.
Automated journalism is able to cut in the production costs, enhance the
efficiency of newsrooms and generate newer and pragmatic advantages. Such
form of machine-driven journalism is opening up newer possibilities.
Automation in the ecology of news media can generate new levels of
employment which is possible because of reinvention of journalism.
Automated writing tools are increasingly used and are being integrated into
publishing work order. Commercialized automatic writing platforms like
Wordsmith, an NLG platform, which transforms and creates news stories out
of raw data sets.
However, automated journalism suffers from certain shortcomings. Since
the audience and news industry are dynamic in nature, automated journalism
may not be relevant in some cases. With the advent of citizen journalism,
journalists in the newsrooms are moving away from transactional
relationship with the news consumers. In this context, editorial decisions and
retention of audience are getting fine-tuned on regular intervals. Such kind of
customization is not possible in the process of automating the news content.
Automation is only widely used in the news content pertaining to the beats
like sports, finance and weather. Automation fails if there is an
overdependence on well-structured data and journalists in the newsrooms
are not able to narrate news stories out of that dataset. There could be
fundamental biasness in automating news stories. Moreover, ethical issues
that are occurring in the journalistic production, dissemination and
consumption cannot be discounted. Overall, the automated journalism tends
to influence the ecology of news media.
Computational journalism comes in the time of applying of AI techniques
in the industry of news media. The application of computing to journalism
can be defined as computational journalism. Hamilton and Turner (2009, p.
2) points out computational journalism as,
 “the combination of algorithms, data and knowledge from
the social sciences to supplement the accountability function
of journalism. In some ways computational journalism
builds on two familiar approaches, computer-assisted
reporting (CAR) and the use of social science tools in
journalism. Like these models, computational journalism
aims to enable reporters to explore increasingly large
amounts of structured and unstructured information as they
search for stories.”

Big data can be managed and manifested in data stories by virtue of

computational journalism. News media houses like The Guardian, Reuters
and The New York Times are integrating the quantitative and computational
methods with the journalistic process (Linden, 2017). The journalistic
narratives have been augmented as journalists have started using statistical
methods along with qualitative method of reporting. Computational
journalism empowered by online communities and social networking tools,
can augment the user engagement and interactions with news media.
Journalism of such kind provides ample avenues for wider collaboration
among various stakeholders of the ecology of news media.
By employing computational journalism, The Associated Press is able to
update and define the role of historical aggregation role of the news agency.
The news agency is resorting to open-source approach to upgrade the level
of computational journalism (Stray, 2011). By totalling the real value and
ethics to the journalistic knowledge production, computational journalism
has heralded in a newer vision where journalists can be involved with
myriad kind of data reporting and dissemination. When the data are
collected, analysed and interpreted through machine learning machine and AI
tools, computational journalism will be more accurate and meaningful.
However, computational journalism is not so easy and convenient to execute
in the newsrooms. It demands ICT skills, efficiency on the part of journalists.
The use of computational journalism faces the issues of fund crunch to
procure machine and software. Such a situation is compelling the journalists
to bank on partnership with third-party software developers. Bots and drones
can collect the data. However, for the purpose of data journalism, it needs to
be well designed and executed properly. Cultural resistance is there for
executing machine-driven journalism. Accepting the new social and cultural
order and reorienting the journalist are the need of the hour for the use of
advanced computational journalism in the newsrooms. The reality of
computational journalism banks on integrity, quality and reliability of the
data to be used for data stories. The absence of any quality of data and
statistical anomalies only results in substandard data stories which further
can jeopardize the very purpose of journalism.

6.4 Artificial Intelligence and Dimensions of

Journalism
Discussing AI-driven journalism will be incomplete without covering
various like algorithmizing the beat reporting; use of AI in checking fake
news; AI in photo journalism; AI in news agency journalism; AI and life of
an individual journalist; and AI and translation in journalism.

6.4.1 Algorithmizing Beat Reporting

Discussing AI-driven journalism will be incomplete without covering the
aspect of beat reporting. Algorithmizing or automating the beat reporting
remains with a difference. Beat reporting is understood as thematic
specialization in the field of journalistic profession. Beat reporting is a
hallmark which indicates the credibility of modern journalism. McCluskey
(2008, p. 84) defines “the beat system in journalism establishes work
routines in which reporters focus on particular institutions or topic areas”.
There are some established beats – government and political reporting,
parliamentary reporting, legislative reporting, legal and court reporting,
defence reporting, internal security reporting, international affairs reporting,
conflict and war reporting, investigative reporting, economy and finance
reporting, business reporting, health reporting, education reporting, sports
reporting, science and technology reporting, nuclear and space reporting,
environment reporting, civil administration, city and mofussil reporting,
development reporting, disaster reporting, arts and culture reporting and
travel and food reporting – which are usually found in newsrooms across the
globe.
Investigative journalism is not reporting as usual. Social scientists
asserted that such nature of reporting is based on cultural construction of an
organization (Tuchman, 1978). Hunter and Hanson (2011, p. 8) assert,

“Investigative journalism involves exposing to the public

matters that are concealed – either deliberately by someone
in a position of power, or accidentally, behind a chaotic
mass of facts and circumstances that obscure understanding.
It requires using both secret and open sources and
documents.”

However, investigative reporters often tend to toil in hunting the

opportunities for create and disseminate novel enterprise stories to the
audience. Nevertheless, leveraging AI tools to fast-pace the process of
discovering investigative ideas is remarkable.
With the help of computational journalism, original investigative
journalism can be strategized (Stray, 2019). It can attract and retain the
consumer consumers. Machine learning and AI techniques have
transformative impacts on investigative journalism as the techniques have
unpacked, reinvented and redeveloped news stories. AI tools can reduce the
cost of producing investigative news stories with the virtue of quick
computation. It can curtail and simplify the tedious human process of
computation. Some of the investigative news stories are based on NLP
techniques covering the concepts of topic modelling, clustering and sentiment
analysis. However, employing AI in investigative journalism is not easy and
affordable. AI tools are yet to be widely used in investigative journalism.
The use of AI tools in investigative journalism is in the state of infancy. Lack
of technological diffusion or insufficient investment in newsrooms could be a
potential obstacle before investigative journalists who want to use AI
techniques. Some of the domain-specific issues are fundamental, which
cannot be resolved at a quicker pace. However, reimagining investigative
stories in the ecology of news media by using AI techniques amid several
constraints is seemingly possible for several newsrooms in the near future.
 Needless to say, investigative journalism is one of the potential beats
which could accommodate the power of AI techniques so far. Since AI is
evolving, the use of AI tools will unpack and redefine various beats in the
time to come.

6.4.2 Artificial Intelligence and Photo Journalism

Most of us are familiar with the old adage, “Seeing is believing.”
Photojournalism is the process of using photographs to tell stories. Whereas
traditional journalists use pen and paper (or perhaps a keyboard) to share
information, photojournalists use a camera as a medium. Photojournalists use
images to tell the whole story from start to finish. When done right, readers
may not even need words to fully understand the message presented.
Journalists use pen and paper to tell stories, while photojournalists use
cameras to capture visual representations of stories.
Imagine a newspaper, magazine, billboard, news article, or online article
without images. Images express one’s story. Similarly, photojournalism
occupies prominence in the field of journalism. The latest disruptive
technology to disrupt and upend the world of photography is artificial
intelligence. AI is revolutionizing the world of photography in ways never
before imagined. From editing software to image recognition, AI is rapidly
changing the way we approach and create images. The result is that you can
take stunning photos with minimal effort and turn even the most mundane
photos into works of art. Eventually, AI tools are changing the way
photographers work and create. However, with AI imagery and generators,
photographers have the potential to create images that are technically perfect,
but lack the creativity and artistry associated with traditional photography.
As a result, photographers rely more on technology than on their own skills
and creativity, which can lead to a decline in the quality and artistry of their
photographs.
The influence of AI in photojournalism in particular, and journalism in
general cannot be underestimated. The internet, technology and digital media
have made more images visible, but also flooded the market with how they
are used and how they are selected. The importance of the decisive moment
has never disappeared, but with the spread of digital photography and the
spread of smartphones, its value has diminished, and news media have not
been able to create new business models. That way, you can create
innovative content that you can monetize.
AI and drone technology are the tools that could bring new disruption to
photojournalism. These two are now growing and gaining popularity with
both businesses and consumers. Drones are a new gadget and
photojournalists love their gadgets so they are becoming more and more
popular in photography (Bracaglia, 2017). As with any technology, costs will
drop as development progresses, allowing consumers to afford to be in the
game as well. Just like the advent of smartphone photography, which gave
way to citizen journalism and UGC, drones are also part of these factions.
Aerial photography is not the only reason drones are attractive. In terms of
their ability to reach places previously inaccessible to humans, especially
photojournalists, drones can enter previously inaccessible battle zones,
breaking news, tight or difficult areas. A drone vehicle is being developed
that could help photojournalists to cover the challenging missions.
AI is connected to drones because AI is programmed with algorithms that
ultimately pilot drones, along with other devices, to create images and tell
visual stories that news media provide to consumers. It becomes a learning
machine. We will push AI further, but apart from photojournalism, there is a
vast amount of big data at the disposal of news media companies to
understand consumer habits, preferences, behaviours and patterns related to
journalism and to understand storytelling. AI is already being used to
decipher data. It uses machine learning to perform routine tasks using
automated content related to AP fact-check reports and algorithms that
Facebook has implemented and continues to improve. Both AI and drone
journalism could be poised to automate photojournalism by allowing the
camera to know when to press the shutter at that definitive moment. As
mentioned earlier, we’ve already seen this happening on a smaller scale in
citizen journalism and UGC, but this advancement will happen on a much
larger scale and will be a game changer across the journalism industry.
Demographically, more and more people are facing journalistic content.
These consumers may become more sophisticated in their selection of
content or care less about content. This might be called the deculturalization
of news media content. Business and technology have also acknowledged
this because the cost of creating content is low, but most companies have not
developed business models to properly monetize their content, which is why
technology can automate human tasks. It is easy to replace with.
In this scenario, photojournalists are more likely to tell more stories
because they can work on multiple projects at once. The AI revolution in
journalism isn’t just about text generation, it’s about creating new visuals
with automatic image generation. AI tools facilitate stylistic diversity and
find the right fit for the field of photojournalism. AI-powered image
generation is more than just cheap graphics. Rather, it is increasingly seen as
an opportunity to have a broader portfolio of choices. It’s also a chance to
play with new styles and formats of visual storytelling. BBC News Labs
prototypes new AI-driven tools that use AI-powered content automation to
generate new story formats that appeal to diverse audiences who prefer
graphic storytelling over traditional news reporting (The Fix, 2022).
At present, AI engineers have used several photographs which were taken
by journalists worldwide. Moreover, they are being used without journalists’
due permission. This state is further manufacturing the space for synthetic
photojournalism. For instance, OpenAI’s DALL-E can amply provide photos
for photojournalism (Columbia Journalism Review, 2023). The paradox is
that audience are bombarded with loads of information and they cannot
crosscheck the photographs all the time. The audience need a reliable source
of information. Therefore, the onus is on both the audience and newsroom
management.
Social media sites may eventually implement warnings that the image
users are looking at maybe fake, much like Facebook is doing now with
messages, but that would create offensive photos. It’s going to be a much
bigger challenge than posting it and spreading it. It’s easy to see how AI tools
will revolutionize the way editors work. Instead of searching through
hopelessly endless stock photos, journalists can just type a few words and
get a tailored image. But what is the impact and how does it affect budgets,
copyright and anti-bias? Given that AI usually creates new images from user
prompts, you might wonder how this relates to the concept of intellectual
property and copyright. Another issue is that real human faces are
unknowingly used to train algorithms to output highly realistic images of
nonexistent humans. Images may be based on original data sets that expressly
prohibit such use, or may be based on individuals who have not specifically
consented to the reuse of their images.
 If the dataset is faulty, AI process will also be faulty. All of this
contributes to prejudices and makes them difficult to identify, recognize and
ultimately resolve. More and more people around the world are using AI
tools to create images of disinformation, distortion of reality and impact on
vulnerable people. Even though AI is powerful and reasonably accurate, it
should be carefully evaluated in this context before using it for public
purposes.

6.4.3 Artificial Intelligence and Life of an Individual Journalist

With the advent of ChatGPT, a form of AI, the lives of journalists have
changed to some extent. ChatGPT is assisting journalists to perform their
regular tasks on a daily basis. AI tool is helping journalists to create
summaries of large texts and documents; generating questions and answers;
generating headlines; translating an article into another language; generating
an email subject and writing an email; creating social posts; and providing
article context for the audience of news. This AI tool helps journalists to
generate interview questions. Based on the topic and subject of the interview,
journalists can suggest relevant questions to use during the interview. The
tool can assist journalists to save time by aggregating news articles. A
language model can read long news articles quickly and provide a concise
summary that emphasizes the main points.
The tool can fetch the journalists an abbreviated version of the abstract, a
rewrite, or an abstract with the specific information that they need. The AI
tool can aid journalists to review their work. Journalists can enter the
information they wish to confirm and will be assisted in confirming or
refuting the information based on reliable sources. ChatGPT helps them
generate impressive and attention-grabbing article titles. By entering the gist
of journalists’ article, ChatGPT can suggest a compelling headline that will
engage the readers.
ChatGPT can assist journalists to communicate with sources in speaking
different languages. Language models can translate text from one language to
another, allowing the journalists to communicate effectively with sources. AI
tools can help them to analyze large amounts of data quickly and efficiently.
By inputting datasets, language models can provide insights and trends that
can be used to support news articles. This tool can assist journalists to
generate article content. By entering key points, the language model can
suggest sentences and paragraphs that can be used to build articles.
ChatGPT’s strength lies in its ability to complement and enhance the work
of human journalists. Machines cannot replace human intuition and creativity,
but Chat GPT can provide valuable support. By using ChatGPT as a tool,
journalists can save time, improve the accuracy and quality of their work and
ultimately increase the value and influence of journalism in society. Such
kind of AI enables them to offer the contexts of articles for the audience.
Outsourcing one of the most tedious office tasks to a machine sound remains
a dream.
Journalists still need to edit the final version, but ChatGPT can generate
voice messages with quick prompts, speeding up the process of emailing
sources and colleagues. Just fill in the blanks and send. It acts as a real time
saver. Like e-mail, posting in social media is convenient, but very time-
consuming. Journalists can use ChatGPT to tweet or post on a topic to free up
your time and think about more meaningful writing. As with all the tasks
above, this can be hit and miss. This AI tool is useful when a journalist needs
to add a simple description to his/her work in plain language. Many people
fear that ChatGPT can be used to create articles, but this is not (yet) the case
all the time.
With this AI tool, journalists’ routinized works of searching, producing
and disseminating news to the audience have been influenced. However, for
the time being, it is slow-paced. In addition, AI is influencing the
dissemination of news on various social media platforms. In this context,
Pallavi Guha, author and academic researcher associated with Towson
University, United States points out,

“Artificial intelligence in journalism is not a new

phenomenon; for the past some years, AI in various forms
has been used in journalism for transcribing interviews, in
data journalism for processing and reviewing large data sets,
and more. However, since October of 2022, open-sourced
AI ChatGPT has taken industries by storm, including
journalism and journalism education. ChatGPT has been
trained to provide a detailed response to prompts from
 users. Since then, there have been some experiments in
journalism, such as this article partly written by ChatGPT
was published on CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/26/chatgpt-wrote-part-of-
this-article-it-didnt-go-great.html.”

Guha further opines,

“Newsrooms and journalists are still assessing the impact of

ChatGPT on the industry, but it is definitely seeing shifts in
the approach of newsrooms, who may be trying to learn and
embrace the technology, such as new positions being created
in newsrooms and journalism AI education:
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/chatgpt-threat-
or-opportunity-journalism-five-ai-experts-weigh. Right now
is the waiting period to assess if the technology could be
used for a positive impact in the industry”.

6.4.4 Artificial Intelligence and Translation in Journalism

Human-machine interaction has evolved dramatically, thanks in large part to
artificial intelligence. AI has become a seamless part of our daily lives, from
smart homes to self-driving cars. And using AI to translate text and speech
from one language to another can help break down one of the most important
barriers between people on the planet. The reason for the AI’s application to
translation can be easily understood. The language is a big data set
containing words and meanings governed by the rules governing how those
words are used. The AI translation employs machine learning to the
language. This is much higher than standard machine translation, in which all
words are translated directly and often mispronounced. AI tools, on the other
hand, can understand phrases, compound sentences, structures and slangs. As
a result, content through translation becomes effective to a target audience.
AI translation uses a technology called Neural Machine Translation (NMT),
which Google began developing in 2016. NMT software reflects the human
approach to language learning for the first time (Wu et al., 2016).
The advantages of AI-based translation are varied. AI-based translation
tools can translate instantly when travellers need it the most. AI translators
can act as invaluable assistants to real-world translators. One can provide
immediate feedback to authors as they transcreate ad copy, or analyze large
volumes of content to provide feedback on batch translations. It can also
point out issues related to tone of voice that older digital translators often
overlook. The best AI language tools can transcreate large amounts of text
with high accuracy, without the financial overhead associated with human
translators. In some cases, human translators can perform digital batch
quality control tasks, significantly reducing localization costs.
When it comes to the implications of AI-based translation in journalism, it
is making the lives of journalists easy. The AI tool can translate a news copy
from English to other languages with much greater speed and accuracy. This
can help the journalists to meet the deadlines in the newsrooms. A news copy
could be entertainment, crime, business, sports or politics in nature or an
opinion piece. Machine translation could revolutionize journalism. AI,
working on the principles of deep learning, now translates such text into
English in seconds. One could say that with a little postediting, it is much
more readable than what is returned by translators who may have mastered
the foreign language but not necessarily the journalism format.
Robots can only work reliably in a few languages, but they learn by
reading. And the results will shape journalism – albeit in different directions.
On the one hand, the tools open up new possibilities for publishers. So far,
only English-speaking editorial offices have been able to provide journalism
worldwide, but in the future, it will be possible for anyone to provide
journalism, either economically meaningful or for a mission. Editors can also
use automated translation to easily reach people with other native languages
in their own country, for example those who have difficulty in connecting
with immigrant communities. And if the original documents are easier for
reporters to access in this way, international searches would be much easier.
Everything works in written as well as spoken language.
One of France’s leading newspapers, Le Monde, has published its first
digital edition in English with articles partially translated by artificial
intelligence. The articles are primarily translations of French articles
produced by international organizations using artificial intelligence tools
(Arab News, 2022). Translation has traditionally been viewed as a job in
which the human touch has always ultimately trumped machines in the end.
That may no longer be the case, as Microsoft’s AI Translator has completed
one of his toughest challenges. Translate Chinese to English with bilingual
accuracy. AI can translate Chinese to English just like humans can (Futurism,
2018). A big turning point in AI is automatic translation. Finland public
broadcaster Yle was able to launch a service for Ukrainian refugees. The
service automatically machine-translated the news and checked it with native
speakers (Yle, 2022). However, it is precisely at this point that things
become important. Because language is always just a package of content that
occurs in a cultural context. The exact same fact can sound completely
different depending on who explains it.
Translation in journalism through AI tools cannot meet with the
requirements in the newsrooms. A translation tool doesn’t replace a foreign
correspondent, but it does make his/her job easier. This is bad news for all
fixers and local journalists around the world who are making sure journalists
have the right information, contacts and access. They may quickly lose their
jobs when they are no longer needed as translators. Even today, few
newsrooms can secure a network of reporters far from home. Easier access
to all the world’s languages might accelerate this development, but it wasn’t
the cause.
Cultural misunderstandings can occur when translated by AI tools. AI
translators may be more accurate than ever, but they don’t have deep
knowledge of the local culture. Accurate translations can still be misleading
or offensive to locals, and humour is something that computers are not well
equipped to analyze. Good content starts out clear, but some texts, such as
technical manuals, need to be complex. AI translation tools can struggle with
unclear or ambiguous source text. When it comes to terminology, it may not
be ideal for accurate translation. Computers are very good at repetitive tasks
with definite results, but they are not very good at making text attractive and
readable. Text produced by AI translation is often boring and neutral. That
can be good, but branding needs personality and requires to be delivered by
people. Unfortunately, AI is also increasingly being used to translate fake
news.
6.5 Other Implications of Artificial Intelligence on
Ecology of News Media
There are other facets like tackling fake news, revisiting gatekeeping and the
rise of a new level of digital divide in newsroom management and the
ecology of news media in terms of incorporating artificial intelligence tools.
Since tackling fake news, revisiting gatekeeping and rise of a new level of
digital divide are dynamic and unpredictable in nature, bringing judicious
discussions on the subject is of utmost importance.

6.5.1 Dispelling Fake News, AI Tools and Media Ecology

Fake news has been a perennial threat to truth. However, the extent of fake
news on digital platforms has been proved fatal in the digital discourse and
the citizens across the globe are falling prey to falsehoods. In this context, AI
tools have been proven to be beneficial in curbing the menace of fake news.
Tools like The Factual, Check, Logically, Full Fact, Fabula AI, Grover,
Sensity AI, ClaimBuster, Adverif.ai, Alto Analytics, Blackbird AI, Defudger
and Bot Sentinel are able to check the ill effects of misinformation and
disinformation (Trustedweb, n.d.).
The factual, enabled by AI system, checks the credibility of news stories.
It also tends to check and validate the authors’ or journalists’ track records
and credibility of news sources. Check, a fact-checking tool, has the facility
of customizable check platform. It has also the capacity to prioritize the
nature of information based on the users’ needs and demands by flagging
misinformation. Logically, a free mobile app, has the power to verify the fact
and image. This tool employs AI techniques which further assist the human
fact checkers for a faster service. Full Fact, a fact-checking tool, is AI-
automated in nature and is capable of detecting fake news. Fabula AI, based
on AI algorithms, attempts to curb the menace of fake news by detecting the
patterns of disinformation on the internet. Grover, an algorithm-based tool,
checks fake news by filtering language of publication. Validating the language
is also combating misinformation and disinformation. Sensity AI, equipped
with certain system, attempts to detect deepfakes which is grossly used for
reputation attacks, dishonest reporting and other numerous nefarious
activities. ClaimBuster, a fact-checker tool, is capable of verifying text or
written content. This tool is also equipped with advanced mechanism to
monitor political debates. Adverif.ai is a tool which detects fake
advertisements to the users. After verifying and detecting inappropriate
content, it also notifies the users of fake content. Alto Analytics is capable of
detecting disinformation and deepfakes. Blackbird AI is a tool which detects
fake content used in social media platforms, government and private
organizations. Defudger, powered by AI, attempts to verify the visual
contents – videos and images. Using blockchain technology, this fact-
checking tool tends to approve the original visual content. Bot Sentinel,
equipped with AI and machine learning, is enabled to detect fake content on
social media outlets with greater accuracy rates. Needless to say, curbing the
ill effects of fake news has bearings on the ecology or management of news
media.
The ecology of news media across the globe is increasingly becoming
complex (Rai & Cottle, 2007). However, the AI-enabled tools are able to
redefine the ecosystem of news media. The ecosystem of news media in
contemporary times has taken paradigm shifts in terms of news, information
and engagement. In a newsroom, from a junior newsperson to a senior person
like the editor-in-chief has equal role and responsibility to maintain a healthy
ecosystem. Ownership of each and every stakeholder in a newsroom is
warranted. Healthy news ecology allows for a diverse and sustainable
engagement with the audiences and communities. When an ecosystem is
healthy; production, distribution and consumption of news will become
healthy. As a result, it can propel the news industry to thrive and the very
purpose of production, distribution and consumption of news can be fulfilled.
When it comes to newsroom management and ecology of news media;
spreading of fake news has been detrimental for both media houses and news
consumers. In this context, AI-driven newsrooms are in a better position in
checking and curbing fake news. Checking and mitigating the menace of fake
news has become imperative to be part of a healthy ecosystem in news media
industry.

6.5.2 Reimagining Gatekeeping in Artificial Intelligence-Driven

Newsrooms
The act of gatekeeping has an implication on the ecology of news media.
Gatekeeping of news is a unique type of mediation in a digitalized newsroom
in general (Dovbysh, 2021) and artificial intelligence-driven newsrooms in
particular. News media ecology tends to be immensely influenced by AI
tools. Moreover, the selection pattern of news in the process of algorithm has
renewed the process of gatekeeping of news media. Nevertheless,
gatekeeping and news selection as a form of newsroom remain a matter of
subjectivity. Innovations, transitions and transformations in digital journalism
have redefined the modus operandi of gatekeeping. Even though some of the
journalists are not fully aware of AI tools, their implications on value chain,
gatekeeping and political economy are getting imminent.
It is argued that technologies in general and AI tools in particular have
captured and controlled different stages in the gatekeeping process of news
media. Moreover, Twitter, Reddit, and other social media outlets have
become the gatekeepers for certain information. The gatekeeping process of
news – production, distribution and consumption are being in tune with
logics, standards or business strategies of external platforms. Even though the
application of AI tools is believed to be a new form of augmented
journalism, it is going to curtail the space of human interventions in terms of
gatekeeping of news.
With the AI tools into play in the newsrooms, journalistic autonomy is
getting diluted as algorithmic process has taken on human being and their
editorial decisions. The power of AI tools is slowing controlling the means
of production as the technology has permeated the process of production,
distribution and consumption of news. The stage of the gatekeeping process –
selection of information, production of news, distribution of news and
audience and business analytics – is getting influenced by the incorporation
of AI tools.
The power of AI is increasingly employed in the gatekeeping process,
highlighting the socio-technical process which precisely determines and
directs what and how information is to be procured, edited, processed,
evaluated and shared as piece of news. However, Harrison (2009, p. 195)
argues, “news content is approved or rejected according to its perceived
ability to inform, or its perceived ability to conform”. With the technologies
getting into newsrooms, the gatekeeping of news is in the mode of transition.
The power of algorithms, the nonhuman actors are getting dominant over the
human actors. Such gatekeepers tend to promote users’ friendly activities,
sharing and resharing, automation, or collaborative ranking.
In the light of technologies taking over human actors, discussing digital
gatekeeping and networked gatekeeping is gaining pivotal importance.
Wallace (2018, p. 279) defines digital gatekeeping as “every individual and
every algorithm could be a gatekeeper, whereas only a few of them are for
any given subject”. There could be four types of gatekeepers – journalists,
individual amateurs, strategic professionals and algorithms. The possible
selection process may include the access to information, selection process of
information and publication possibilities of those information. On the
contrary, Barzilai‐Nahon (2008, p. 1494) asserts that networked gatekeeping
based on top-down model of gatekeeping is opposite to digital networking
and stresses on the role of those “whom gatekeeping is being exercised
upon”.
The networked gatekeeping highlights networked publics which are non-
elite-driven. Usually, the traditional and institutionalized newsrooms are
driven by the elites. In the context of using AI tools in newsrooms, the
paradox remains unabated whether there is the presence of digital
gatekeeping or networked gatekeeping or there is a coexist of the two.
Precisely, gatekeepers’ political power, information production ability and
alternatives in the light of gatekeeping are being debated.
It is found that technologies have empowered the audiences which have
become an integral part of gatekeeping process in the ecology of news media.
Blanchetts (2021) coined the concept of participative gatekeeping which
considers the use of data on audience. However, Simon (2022, p. 1)
confirms,

“With the complexity and resource-intensiveness of AI

creating lock-in effects, news organisations will likely
become even more tethered to platform companies in the
long-run, thus potentially limiting their autonomy and, by
extension, leading to a restructuring of the public arena, as
news organisations as the main gatekeepers to the same are
re-shaped according to the logics of platform businesses.”
Since journalism is a dynamic profession, technologies continue to play an
important role pertaining to the role of gatekeeping in newsroom
management. With the inclusion of ChatGPT, an AI application in news
industries, gatekeeping is subjected to alter the form of digital journalism.
This AI tool has implications on the selection of news. There is no doubt that
the applications of ChatGPT are going to augment the pace of digital
journalism. It is assumed that this AI tool can curtail the space of human
interventions in terms of gatekeeping of news. Furthermore, with ChatGPT
into play in the newsrooms, journalistic autonomy is getting diluted as
algorithmic process has taken on human being and their editorial decisions.
AI in general, ChatGPT in particular could be a new gatekeeper, influencing
the process of production, distribution and consumption of news.

6.5.3 New Level of Digital Divide, Artificial Intelligence and

Newsroom Management
There is little doubt that digitalization of newsrooms has influenced the
ecology of news media in a better manner. Newsrooms across the globe are
experiencing revolutions in terms of production, distribution and
consumption of news. However, news organizations are witnessing financial
and technological pressures because of changes in the nature and functions of
newsrooms (Ogbebor & Carter, 2021). The quality of news in a democratic
setup, public scrutiny and declining public support for the revenue-driven
news media are the larger talking points. Such similar nature of unrest can be
echoed when AI tools are being used in the newsrooms.
The use of technologies especially the internet and digitalization in the
newsrooms in the Global North and Global South have created a second
level of digital divide (Jamil, 2023). Similarly, the incorporation of artificial
intelligence and machine learning in the Global North and Global South can
possibly create another level of digital divide. This dichotomy is going to
limit the power of AI tools in newsrooms in the Global South. New
communication technologies have grossly influenced the local media across
the nations. Such kind of studies have been conducted in Western countries.
However, there is a dearth of such studies in the context of non-Western
countries. Precisely, the newsroom management and ecology of new media in
a developed nation are apparently different from that of a developing nation.
Digital divide was there. It still persists. A few news media organizations
are able to resort to leapfrogging which tends to influence the ecology of
news media.
Employees in the Global South may face the risk of facing much higher
barriers to using artificial intelligence tools including ChatGPT. ChatGPT
has already announced the launch of a premium version that offers priority
server access to the users. Non-premium users will not be able to access
ChatGPT at maximum server capacity. Pricing will be a relatively high
barrier in the global South due to lower median incomes (UNIDO, 2023).
Similarly, with the introduction of ChatGPT, a fear is predicted in using the
tool in the area of journalism in the Global South. ChatGPT undoubtedly
presents an interesting argument to explore the applications of AI technology
in news industry in different countries. Digital divide may take different turns
into ChatGPT-HAVES and ChatGPT-HAVE NOTS. Newsrooms in the Global
South may further face the brunt of this newer form of digital divide.

6.6 Concluding Remarks

There is no denying that content is the king. Collection, production and
distribution of news content remains the mainstay in the journalistic process
and narratives. The advent of machine learning and artificial intelligence
tools can reshape every stage of news content from gathering to distribution.
It is hard to believe that the employment of AI techniques in the newsrooms
will lead to augmentation activities rather than replacement in media
ecology. Along with AI tools, other technologies like blockchain, computer-
generated imagery (CGI), metaverse and immersive technologies are going to
occupy their spaces in the ecology of news media. For an instance, whether
metaverse can create immersive appeal in the mind of new consumers or not.
Similarly, CGI is a kind of visual effects (VFX) which can be used in
newsrooms. Time will speak how journalism can use or misuse the technique
of CGI in the production, distribution and consumption of news.
Needless to say, AI tools have started influencing each and every stage of
journalistic process. However, as of now this is slow-paced. Skills required
for the traditional format of journalism will be there. Beckett (2019, p. 43)
has rightly argued,
 “Production, distribution, and consumption of news will all
be impacted by AI-powered technologies, probably in that
order. Entirely new content experiences based on AI
technologies are still the most distant opportunities. In
production of news the daily routine of assembling audio
and video programmes will likely be an early area of impact.
In distribution and consumption of news the personalisation
of content offering and, especially, the personalisation of the
individual content item or experience, will likely be an early
impact. Both of these are happening now in limited form.”

The uncertainty still hangs. However, its impact will be visible sooner or
later. A short, medium and long strategy is required to make ecology of news
media and newsroom management amicable in light of AI interventions.
Bringing AI technologies in newsrooms in some parts of the world will
only reinforce inequalities and infamously strengthen the dichotomy between
Artificial Intelligence-HAVES and Artificial Intelligence-HAVE NOTS.
Moreover, since the technologies like the metaverse are increasingly into the
domain of news media, the situation could be detrimental in terms of
maintaining parity in information. Parity in terms of accessing, executing and
researching the communication tool has been a huge challenge. The perils of
technological inequality need to be amicably understood and addressed.
Changes are welcome in the spectrum of news media, but not at the cost of
inequality and societal unrest. Even distribution of technology is the need of
the hour when a healthy ecology of news media is duly sought.
Cultural barriers remain potential obstacles before newsroom
management. Beckett (2019, p. 48) has rightly pointed out,

“There is a cultural gap between computer scientists and

journalists. Topics such as algorithmic personalization are
straightforward and sensible directions for computer
scientists, but raise concerns with journalists around
editorial responsibilities, filter bubbles, etc. We need to keep
 everyone on board, and get commitment before developing
solutions.”

Hence, in the light of employing AI tools and overcoming the cultural

barriers, the news management should factor in the conditioning of newsroom
while planning, strategizing and implementing the AI tools. In addition, AI
literacy needs to be fostered in newsroom management so that the use of
technologies can be judicious. News organisations should make a point of
this so that risks of failure can be mitigated to a great extent.
Since ChatGPT is buzzing in newsrooms across the globe, this AI tool is
getting experimented in the process of journalistic production. It could be a
boon or bane in newsrooms that time will prove. Advantages and pitfalls of
this tool for the news media are yet to be critically understood and executed.
The political economy of ChatGPT in the process of journalistic production,
distribution and consumption need due deliberation. Moreover, ChatGPT
literacy ought to be fostered among the journalists. Suffice to say, media
literacy in general has been a core topic for discussion and research in the
sphere of academic and industry. Understanding and researching ChatGPT
literacy will be an extension to the study of media literacy.
Suffice to say, AI is undeniably going to influence the ecology of news
media. Man and machine are two different entities and both have their own
importance. Excessive reliance on AI techniques in the journalistic process
could prove to be a disaster. The dualistic nature of such technologies has
become a dilemma. However, the path of least resistance is to be resorted.
Nevertheless, opting for digital disablement is not probably the right
solution. The use of AI needs to be mindful in newsroom management. Let’s
wait and watch. How much the newsrooms will be able to strike a balance
between the promises and perils of AI that will invite a plethora of debates
and future studies will be worth reckoning. Since the use of AI and
journalism is a matter interdisciplinary interest, good amount of academic
probes will be demanded in the future.

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7 Data Journalism and Artificial
Intelligence

Interrogating the Data with Machine

DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-7

7.1 Introduction
Mark Briggs (2013, p. 233) states, “Data, data everywhere. Now that we’re
deep into the information age, it’s time for everyone to accept that the amount
of information in our lives is only going to keep growing”. Nowadays, human
beings are residing in a society where the numerical occupies an important
space and words, geographical locations and interactions are turning into
data. Modern society is in a stage of data superabundance and connecting to
the importance of numerical data has been the core of discussion
everywhere. Data have showed relevant connections to varied sectors and
professions including journalism.
With the advent of post-factual politics, data journalism has become more
relevant than before. The collection, analysis and publication of data have
become increasingly important (Coddington, 2015). Innovations in
technological fronts like automation and bots have resulted in the rise and
growth of data journalism. The report on the Panama Papers could be cited
as the best form of data journalism. With the rise in practice of such kind of
computational journalism, scholarly interest in the area has exponentially
gone up. This has paved the way for the augmentation in journalistic practice
and academic investigations as well.
Data journalism is now a buzz word in the space of news media. You
might have seen an infographic or an investigative news story which
comprises of the data. This unique way of storytelling by employing
structured data through interactive modes, visualizations and computational
methods is on the rise. Even though telling journalistic news stories has
moved from print media to radio, radio to television and television to digital
media, the essence of journalism has remained the same. All the journalistic
investigations or news presentations hover around the 5Ws and 1H (Raman,
2009). The 5Ws – Why, Who, What, Where and When – and 1H: How are
being used to write the news in an inverted pyramid. This format of news
writing remains an appealing format to grab the eyeballs of the news
consumers. Moreover, the audience can get the basics of the event from the
inverted pyramid of news writing. However, overall data journalism is at the
intersection of communications and technology. Later, the format of the
inverted pyramid of news writing can be adopted by molding the facts and
figures for data storytelling to the audience.
Data journalism is gaining popularity in media organizations across the
world. The news media outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian
are attempting to utilize such types of journalism optimally (Tabary, Provost,
& Trottier, 2016). Such nature of journalistic practice has raised
epistemological questions before traditional journalism pertaining to the data
sources, techniques of data collection and information processing .
Therefore, there is little doubt that this type of journalism based on the
numerical and interpretation is a unique way to understand the profession and
practice as well.

7.2 Understanding Data Journalism

With the arrival and adoption of newer technologies, journalistic values like
objectivity, transparency and participation have been the core of discussion.
To some scholars and media practitioners, it has brought some sort of
negotiations in journalistic norms and practice. The journalistic storytelling
formats and presentations have been radically changed. Traditional form of
journalism has undergone numerous changes. As a result, it has raised ample
amount of deliberations on the aspects starting from the collection of data to
analysis of data and from analysis of data to interpretation of data.
 People worldwide are being influenced by computers and the data. In this
context, journalists should be nuanced to understand the computers and the
data which have immense bearings on humankind. In general, people often
consider “data journalism” as charts and infographics. However, it is much
beyond this notion and understanding. It is the process of understanding the
data to tell the stories from the database based on the collection, analysis and
interpretation of data. It is a flourishing area of journalism in which
understanding and presenting the data through the forms of storytelling is
important.
In this context, Simon Rogers states,

“Data journalism incorporates such a wide range now of

styles – from visualization to long-form articles. The key
thing they have in common is that they are based on
numbers and statistics – and that they should aim to get a
‘story’ from that data. Data journalism doesn’t have to mean
data visualization.”

(Mair, Keeble, & Lucero, 2017, pp. 16–17).

In a report of the Columbia School of Journalism, Berret and Phillips (2016,

p. 9) define data journalism as,

“using data for the journalistic purpose of finding and telling

stories in the public interest. This may take many forms: to
analyze data and convey that analysis in written form, to
verify data found in reports, to visualize data, or to build
news apps that help readers to explore data themselves. This
field also encompasses the use of computation—algorithms,
machine learning, and emerging technologies—to more
effectively mine both structured and unstructured
information to find and tell stories.”
Be it a traditional form of journalism or data journalism, the principles of
journalism remain the same. In traditional form of journalism, a journalist
attempts to produce truthful and accurate presentation of facts out of his/her
personal account of a story. However, data journalism is one step ahead in
which a journalist intends a news story out of a data set. Moreover, this
approach to journalism unravels the larger perspectives of a story . It is
apparent that a data set may have multiple perspectives or story angels which
can be told to the audience.

7.2.1 Myths and Realities

There are several myths that are hovering around in the corridor of data
journalism and have inundated the space of technologies in newsrooms
worldwide. A myth is that the data journalism is not considered as personal.
However in reality, data stories are there about people’s lives which can be
contextualized in larger perspectives. Another myth is that data journalists
are keen on numbers only, sidelining the news stories in the true sense.
However in a real sense, data journalists are keen to explore the facts with
wider and newer perspectives out of the data in which they can engage with
news consumers (Casselman, 2019). The myth is that data journalism is
feasible for programmers and designers. However in practical sense, data
journalism stems from an editorial practice and understanding. It is not all
about the technical and design skills. To be a good data journalist, one should
have the eyes for a news story and have the skills to collaborate with others
in the newsroom. In data journalism, the focus is on human lives more than
the use of technologies to tell news stories.
Another myth is that data journalism only creates and disseminates charts
and infographics. However in reality, data journalism uncovers facts using a
data set by employing charts and infographics. Last not the least, the myth
about data journalism is that it is expensive and demands more time to tell
the news stories. However, in reality it is not so. If news stories are about
longer-term investigative in nature, eventually it becomes expensive and
demands more time than usual news stories.

7.2.2 Sourcing of Reliable Data

In data journalism, questions and curiosity remain about how to source
reliable data when there are plenty of sources. It is an important aspect of
journalism which is driven by technologies and machines (Al Jazeera Media
Institute, 2019). Firstly, using reliable or trustworthy sources is a pivotal
facet of journalism. The nature of the source used in news stories usually
defines the rate of credibility of journalism. Suffice to say, it is hard enough
to get reliable data sources on which news stories are built to tell the same to
the audience. Secondly, it is essential to do the cross-referring of the data
sets. The data sets could be cross-referred with credible news stories,
reports and the like. Eventually, it saves one’s energy and time before it gets
pushed for the process of cleaning, analysis and interpretation. Thirdly, a
data journalist should be adequately vigilant so that anything valuable in the
dataset won’t be missed out. Moreover, the data to be used in the news
stories should be relevant and updated. It must not be outdated which will
lessen the credibility and newsworthiness of news stories. Fresh data bring
newer insights to a news story which could prove an exclusive for the news
consumers. Fresh data plays a decisive role in determining credible
journalism. Fourthly, it is vital to understand and comprehend the
methodology of data collection. The methodology of data collection reflects
the validity of data collection. By doing this, objectivity can be largely
maintained. Maintaining objectivity in journalism is something that can be
missed out when journalists are vulnerable to partisanship. Precisely, a data
journalist should treat objectivity as a performance of journalism. Fifthly, a
data journalist should understand the effects of data stories and the
acceptance of the audience over the traditional form of storytelling. Since the
audience is the main stakeholder of the data stories, their convenience of
consuming news of this nature has to be understood in a delicate manner. The
consumers of news remain an important factor in the process of journalistic
production. Overall, the reaction or feedback of the audience to news
contents remains an unavoidable component in the ecology of news media.

7.2.3 Elements of Data Journalism

Data journalism has been undergoing numerous changes and is still counting.
Since it is a dynamic form of journalism, curiosity is often accounted what
are the elements or features of data journalism. Despite its changing modes
and applications, it has certain basic elements. In data journalism, the first
element is quantitative information. It plays a dynamic and strong role in
telling news stories. Secondly, there is some sort of visual or graphic
representation of the data which make a news story more interesting than
ever (Zamith, 2019). Loosen, Reimer, and De Silva-Schmidt (2017) have
added two other elements to the existing elements of data journalism. The
scholars added “participatory openness” and “open data and open-source
approach”, which have taken such type of journalism to the next level. Knight
(2015) attempts to stress on the complexity and nature of data elements rather
than the nature of visualizations. Going beyond the above elements, Ojo and
Heravi’s (2018) find the space of data sources, nature of narratives, degree
of interactiveness and analytical probes and techniques in computation
journalism. It is also found that computation journalism employs the use of
structured data management method for news storytelling.

7.3 The Origin and Development of Data

Journalism
The field of journalism has been experiencing constant evolution with the
changing adoption of technologies. Online journalism was evolved in the
1990s (Pavlik, 2001). In the similar fashion, over the years data journalism
has undergone certain stages. Data journalism 1.0 came into existence in the
early 1800s. In some places, this version of data journalism is still being
used. In the beginning phase, the structured data were used to tell the news
stories. A data journalist was in need of the skills to understand and
comprehend the database and statistics. It was found that the journalists were
not equipped with the skills to use data science for storytelling to the
audience. The example of news story “Pathomphol Chan-ocha” (Isra News
Agency, 2016) is worth mentioning here.
Data journalism 2.0 was started around the year 1950 with the emergence
and proliferation of computer use for news stories. It increased the efficiency
of data journalists in some aspects. Journalists were required to be nuanced
in social research methodology and computer skills. The instances of news
stories “The Shock” (Ippoodom, 2017) and “Riot in Detroit” (Meyer, 1967)
fall into this state of data journalism. The arrival of data journalism 3.0 was
around the year 2000. In this period, data science was started for gathering,
organizing, analyzing and delivering news stories to the audience. The
instances of news story “Afghan War Logs” (The Guardian, 2010) and
“Lottery: Who Gets Rich?” from Thai Publica and Boonmee Lab (Thai
Publica and Boonmee Lab, n.d.) can be classified into the stage of data
journalism 3.0. There was a time when doing data journalism was difficult.
Understanding the complex data was hard and the required skills were not
enough to tell data stories in an effective manner. To overcome the problems,
few news organizations in the United States and England employed
programmers and telling data stories was feasible (Parasie & Dagiral,
2013). It somewhat made computational journalism easy to some extent.
The notion of data journalism is not completely new. The data in digital
formats were used for newsrooms since the late 1960s in various
newspapers in the US. It gained momentum with the rapid expansion of
information and communication technologies (ICTs) (Parasie & Dagiral,
2013). Data visualization was started when the French engineer Charles
Joseph Minard used an information graphics in the field of civil engineering
and statistics (Rendgen, 2018). In the 1960s, the data journalism through
computer-assisted reporting came into existence in the US (Mair et al.,
2017).
The term “data journalism” was first used by Simon Rogers who used this
word in the Guardian Insider Blog (Knight, 2015). The history of data
journalism has the connection when a news piece in Manchester Guardian
started compiling data on Manchester schools (Rogers, 2013). Rogers (2011)
asserts that data journalism accommodates judicious amalgamation of
spreadsheet, infographics and news stories. Along with defining various
processes of data journalism, Bradshaw (2011) clearly demarcated data-
driven journalism and question-driven approaches to journalism. He also
focused on the context and requirement of programming skills. Moreover,
Bradshaw developed the inverted pyramid to data journalism. It was a
landmark change, keeping the traditional format of journalistic writing in the
domain of data journalism in mind.
By the year 2015, the concept of data news stories emerged and was well-
executed in mainstream news outlets and forayed into the academic fraternity
in North America and Europe. Organizations like the Global Investigative
Journalism Network (GIJN) have developed toolkits and MOOCs which
were employed for journalistic approach. The Panama Papers showcased the
true testimony and charisma of data journalism when investigative journalists
fully exposed the case (Stalph & Borges-Rey, 2018). Data journalism came
into existence in Greece in the format of infographics, which were used to
inform the news audience about certain parameters (Bradshaw, 2018).
Over the years, data journalism has been accepted as a type of journalism
which is able to render journalistic output with adequate amount of
systematic, precise and trustworthy. Factual plurality has been substantially
gained and people’s trust toward news has been enhanced. As a result, news
outlets gradually have started investing in data journalism which has also
drawn the attention in academic circles worldwide. With the passing of time
and advancements in technologies used, the emergence of open data
movement has been feasible. Alain Desrosières (2008, p. 12) states,
“quantification offers a specific language that provides remarkable
properties of transferability, possibilities of standard manipulations through
calculation, and routinized interpretation systems”. Currently with no
surprise, the practice of data journalism is happening all over the world .
With the use of AI, data journalism has been stepped up beyond the
routinized performance of data journalism 3.0 as currently such form of
journalism has started witnessing varied forms of news storytelling to the
audience.

7.4 Nature of Data Journalism

The nature of data journalism remains an important facet and equally
demands deliberations in the light of function, modus operandi and
presentation of news stories to the audience. The types or division of data
journalism can be prepared in the following manner:

7.4.1 Classification Based on the Nature of Function

Based on the nature of functions, data journalism can be divided into
investigative data journalism and general data journalism. Investigative data
journalism refers to the use of data for investigative stories. Generally, the
hidden data are explored, analyzed and told to the audience in the form of
news stories by using advanced techniques. Usually, such type of data stories
demands more time and required skills on the part of investigative
journalists. For instance, investigative story the “Panama Papers” (The
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 2020) can be cited
here. In general, data journalism is all about collecting data for developing
general news stories which do not require advanced techniques.

7.4.2 Classification Based on Target of Extracting Meaning Out

of Data
This type of data journalism stresses on the interpretation of data which play
a vital role in telling news stories. Again, such type of data journalism is of
two types – data journalism highlighting the characteristics and data
journalism which tends to analyze the data relationships. Data journalism
highlights the characteristics necessary to use statistics or algorithms which
are not complex in nature. For an example, “America’s Broken Healthcare
System” (The Guardian, 2017). Data journalism highlighting to analyze the
data relationships, intends to process and analyze the data links by using
statistics or algorithms which are generally complex in nature. The instance
of “The Rhymes Behind Hamilton” (The World Street Journal, 2016) can be
cited here.

7.4.3 Classification Based on Presentation Format

So far as the presentation of data journalism is concerned, it can be in the
traditional format of presentation and interactive format of presentation. In
the traditional format of presentation, a data journalist potentially uses
pictures and infographics for news storytelling without the facility of an
interactive mode. On the other hand, in an interactive format of presentation,
a data journalist needs to have programming skills to make the news
storytelling interactive. As a result, the news presentation becomes more
appealing to the audience. The example of “How to Reduce Mass Shooting
Deaths?” (The New York Times, 2017) is worth mentioning and justifying.

7.5 Data Journalism Gaining Importance

Data journalism enjoys several advantages despite its complex method. In
numerous newsrooms, such form of computational journalism is doing
wonders and is overwhelmingly grabbing the eyeballs of the audience. With
the help of data journalism, the complex data are reduced to the state of
understanding on the part of the audience. Data journalists tend to act as
intermediaries between data and media consumers. Therefore, it bridges the
gap between the complex data and the audience. It makes the audience easy
to comprehend the data into a meaningful understanding. Data stories are
getting reinvented from time to time.
Computational journalism has enabled the journalists to develop and
execute their social roles by disseminating the data-based news stories to the
audience. Generally, data-based stories are not deadline-driven. Sometimes,
the nature of data stories is such that it is not time bound. It further fosters and
enhances the position of journalism as a watchdog to a greater extent. Studies
have found that data journalism is also beneficial for small newsrooms. It
helps in bringing better communication, facilitating to collaborate and
experiment and coping for more permeable between its departments in
newsrooms.
Nowadays, you need not require big teams for the implementation of data
journalism. The size of the team does not matter for the adoption of
technology. Studies reveal similar findings in Germany, Austria and the UK
(Figl, 2017). It has developed the newer insight that data journalism is also
suitable for small-sized newsrooms. The small-sized newsrooms can resort
to computational journalism which is increasingly accepted by the news
consumers.
It is apparent that disinformation or fake news is causing harm to the
society. In this context, data journalism is gaining importance in various
phases of disseminating information. Data journalism has become the
panacea to combat, mitigate and minimize the extent of disinformation or fake
news. With the tools of computational data stories, transparency and ethical
standards are taking the front seat . A study conducted in Brazil finds that
journalism based on data and facts is equipped with transparency (Gehrke,
2020). Since data stories can be from nonelite sources; the “strong corporate
influence” on telling stories has gradually diminished (Erjavec, 2005, p.
346). Consequently, news production and public opinion are meagerly
influenced by the data sources. This has also made journalism free from
biasness and partiality. Disseminating information without biasness remains
a credible benchmark of ethical journalism. The benefits emanating from data
journalism are slowly felt across the newsrooms and are still counting.

7.6 Data Journalism and Digital Storytelling

Readers are effectively engaged with stories in data journalism. The contents
are getting interesting for the readers. In this context, Simon Rogers (2012)
asserts, “all data is personal at some level…the best interactive [sic] and
visualizations allow users to see how the numbers reflect their lives.”
Storytelling is taking a different turn when the journalists are employing the
ability to understand and interpret the data, to draw newer insights and to
pose relevant questions. It is observed that data storytelling is largely
produced and disseminated in big giant media corporations. Small and
medium level media outlets are facing difficulty to invest in technologies.
However, the opinion on the usage of data journalism is getting divided and
raising several perspectives.
With the help of the data, storytelling can be different in many ways.
Sometimes, news stories can be told out of a data set. The data encourage
and facilitate the journalists to manage bigger stories. Sometimes stories can
be exclusive when a journalist throws light on hidden facts and figures. It
may happen that the data story can be more detailed and see the facts and
perspectives from a distance (Sunne, 2016a). Since data journalism makes
the reporting more efficient and transparent, storytelling will shape up and
turn to that level which engages the news consumers in a better manner. The
acquisition, analysis and presentation of the data have changed the narrative
of storytelling. Moreover, storytelling is getting transformed every single day
in the news media industry to face the cutthroat competition in order to arrest
the eyeballs of the audience.
The approach of storytelling is not fixed or uniform in the arena of data
journalism. It is subjected to change or to contextualize the situation so that a
journalist can do a good news story. There are times when a journalist is
inundated with the data or reached the state of data deluge. A journalist is
deadlocked with the massive data, thinking how to do justice with it. As a
result, a journalist tends to get confused. It may also divert a journalist from
making data stories which are not been driven by news values. Ethical issues
might pop up which further raises the issue of journalistic standards. Any sort
of ethical issues getting to news stories further dilute the journalistic spirit
and essence of credible journalism. Therefore, to pick and use the right data
remains important in storytelling. Sometimes our lives create the data which
are required for good storytelling and for free and fair society. Saving time is
pivotal in this process. However, it should not distort in minimizing or
extending the storytelling.

7.7 Data Journalism Across the Globe

The data news stories often reflect the subject of politics, business and
society (Loosen et al., 2017). However, such kind of journalism can be
practiced in all the beats that a newsroom needs to tell the stories for its
audience. The data stories are often from the public repositories. In some
countries, data journalism is being well-practiced, somewhere it has just
started and somewhere it is going to emerge. Moreover, it is taking off in
several newsrooms across the globe.

7.7.1 United States

The computational journalistic field in the US is rich and diverse (Fink &
Anderson, 2015). Moreover, data journalism is not a new concept in the US.
It was used in predicting the US presidential election in 1950s. It was
potentially employed when the Hurricane Andrew hit the Florida coast in the
year 1992. Diving into the form of data journalism, a reporter used the SAS
and census data (Sunne, 2016b). From the beat of business to crime and
culture to international topics, such type of journalism is making inroads and
has occupied an important space in the newsrooms. Since the US is one of
the prominent hubs of technological advancements, data journalism is riding
high in the domain of news and reporting. Such form of journalism keeps on
inventing its forms and color from time to time and from beats to beats.

7.7.2 Australia
The data journalists from Australia have adopted and changed the structure
and practice of such form of journalism to a great extent. Newsrooms have
undergone numerous changes in terms of work forces. The data normalization
has become a new normal (O'Donnell, Zion, & Sherwood, 2016). Kirsten
Robb, a producer at 730 with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC), opines those certain journalists in the space of data journalism are
going to be thriving. Robb asserts,

“It’s going to take people like Craig [Butt] and Inga [Ting],
people who are just really passionate about data to be doing
these things. They will probably have to do them in their
spare time, which I know Craig does a lot of, to prove they
are worthy. But it’s going to be hard to convince the editors
that a whole lot of time and money can be thrown or should
be thrown at these things because, you know, like often they
are really worthwhile but if you can’t definitely say we are
going to get 100,000 clicks for this piece and they are going
to stay on this article for this long it is really hard to justify it
I think, which is sad.”

(Wright & Doyle, 2019)

Fundamentals like the data and basic mathematical skills have become
mainstreamed. It has become technically required for the newsrooms.
Interactiveness and narrative visualization have occupied major space in
newsrooms. Individual passion is much required to propel the pace of
journalism. Few journalists predict that basic data skills among journalists
are on the rise in certain newsrooms. This has broken the barrier and more
and more journalists are into the space of data journalism. Further, this has
enabled the journalists to focus on the pace of journalism especially, the
mode of presentation (Wright & Doyle, 2019). It has also changed the level
of reaching out the audience.

7.7.3 South Africa

The past, present and future of data journalism is worth mentioning. Such
form of journalism has eliminated the “rhythimised” and “routinised” process
of news production. It has fostered and empowered the nonelite news media
outlets. Further, it has fueled the sense of collaborations in newsrooms. A
study points out that to make data journalism sustainable media education
needs to be recalibrated, resulting in the changes in theory and practice of
journalism (Munoriyarwa, 2020). Technology is ceaselessly getting updated
and is inducing changes in journalistic discourse, practice and
epistemologies (Cheruiyot & Ferrer-Conill, 2018). Sometimes finding no
other ways, journalists are negotiating the new practices of journalism.
However, the execution of data storytelling in the space of business reporting
and writing remains nascent.

7.7.4 Canada
The base of data journalism has been solid in Canada over the years. The
Canadian government has consulted on embracing an open data policy. The
open data sites including Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Edmonton have
come together to chalk out open data standards. Patrick Cain points out,

“If something is uncontroversial (like dog licenses by postal

code) there are often no issues about releasing it. On the
other side, we have the sex offender database, which I’ve
been trying to get access to since the spring in 2008.
Sometimes there is ineffective resistance, like the landlord
and tenant appeal board that tried to get me to sign a non-
disclosure agreement. Mostly I get things in the mail as the
law demands … Everybody (including me) likes the rage-
against-the-machine stories, but in the majority of cases the
system works more or less as intended.”

(Rogers, 2010)

7.7.5 Bangladesh
With the advent of data journalism, traditional journalism has been changed
in Bangladesh. It has altered the process of linear storytelling and made the
new stories more interactive and engaging with the audience. Suffice to say,
the data processing tools are being paid more attention than before across the
newsrooms. The essence of data journalism lies in datafication (Arsenault,
2017). The capacity and power to record and store information is one of the
fundamental distinctions between societies based on technology and societies
without technology. The use of data journalism is reeling under a premature
state. Again, computational skills of the journalists are yet to be adequately
tapped. These are rarely employed in the newsrooms. Few investigative
news reports are based on the applications of data journalism. Studies have
found that the beats of business and economic have used the data for news
storytelling. Accessibility and application of open and public data are posing
a potential problem in making data journalism more meaningful and
acceptable in the public.
The low level of digital literacy and the sense of distrust among
government officials are other disturbing factors for number-based
journalism. The journalists distrust the government officials and vice versa.
The journalists in traditional newsrooms have not taken data journalism
seriously and the reasons behind this could be attributed to several factors.
One of the striking reasons could be the lack of digital literacy among
journalists. Even though sometimes data are available, but journalists are not
able to analyze and comprehend them for the understanding of the public. The
situation is arising because of lack of adequate skills on the part of
journalists. There is a lack of time and training which is creating problems
for data journalism to develop in an effective manner.

7.7.6 Nigeria
Data journalism emerged in the 1960s in Nigeria. However, journalists are
even now finding it hard to implement data storytelling. The intersection of
journalism and numbers is in the state of infancy in several respects.
Motilola Akinfemisoye-Adejare (2019) in one study finds that the space of
data journalism is well-placed in mainstream media in Nigeria. When the
period of “data deluge” emerged in the election time in the year 2019, data
journalism came to the rescue. In fact, it has done pretty well in political
reporting in the form of news storytelling. It has proved its credibility which
potentially countered the presence of fake news. Moreover, data journalism
has claimed that it is much more beyond just numerical, statistics and
infographics.
Keeping the low of pace of data storytelling in Nigeria, some of the news
enterprises like Dataphyte are at the forefront to make a difference. However,
one media enterprise, Dataphyte, is gearing up to make a difference. It
attempts to bring statistical stories for the audience and place numerous
engaging conversations with the audience on varied subjects. The enterprise
is also keen to make the data available for the journalists (Adebajo, 2020). It
is not only helping the newsmakers but also the policy framers pertaining to
planning and development. As a result, it is seen that few collaborative
works have emerged and data journalism is being shaped.

7.7.7 India
India is the largest democratic country in the world and the media is the
fourth pillar of democracy. In India, data journalism is catching up. Large
media organizations are investing in data journalism (Muzaffar, 2015).
Newsrooms in India are not fully equipped to tap the power of such kind of
journalism. Mainstream media houses are experimenting with data stories for
better storytelling for the audience. Moreover, there is a dearth of skilled
journalists who can potentially use the tools of data journalism. Compared to
the mainstream media, the alternative media platforms like IndiaSpend, The
Quint, The Wire and ThePrint are much ahead in experimenting and
executing data journalism. Since alternative platforms intend to do news
stories with a difference, they are resorting to this form of data stories. Of
course, the mainstream media like The Hindu and The Indian Express have
been publishing certain amount of data stories from time to time. The impact
of stories is slowly becoming apparent among the news consumers. Even
though data journalism is impactful in terms of news stories in an effective
manner to the audience, the priority for such kind of journalism in the space
of mainstream Indian journalism is underestimated. Data literacy in the
newsroom in India remains a potential problem. However, data journalism is
often used among independent journalists, think tanks and academics.

7.8 Skills Required to Become a Data Journalist

To be a capable data journalist, certain skills are required. Since data
journalism is complex, journalists are required to be skilled in collecting,
analyzing and interpreting the results which are further essential for telling
data stories to the audience. Working with the data in a collaborative manner
enables the journalists to understand and apply the data effectively in the
newsrooms. Complexity of data-driven stories and the inadequacy of
journalistic practice training remain potential hurdles before data journalists.
It is seen that there are rampant frustrations that come and block the roads of
practicing data news stories. However, the power of data news stories has
encouraged journalists to take this innovative form of storytelling. This has
encouraged the journalists to overcome the issue.
The basic skills that a data journalist should possess are to access, clean
and analyze the data to reach journalistic interpretations and conclusions.
However, it happens only when a journalist knows the basics of data news
storytelling. Without the knowledge of the numerical facts and techniques, it
is easy to make mistakes. This should not discourage the journalists. A data
journalist should be aware of certain tools and datasets. For the extraction of
the data, a journalist should know Tabula which is instrumental in extracting
the data from PDFs. It can be accessed from https://tabula.technology/.
Similarly, the data extraction can be done through Document Cloud which
can be accessed from https://www.documentcloud.org/. Later comes the
stage of data cleaning and analysis. Data cleaning and analysis are important
stages in data journalism. Knowledge of Google Spreadsheets and Open
Refine is a great asset for the data journalist. Google Spreadsheets can be
accessed from docs.google.com/spreadsheets and Open Refine can be
accessed from http://openrefine.org/.
Data visualization, a process of data journalism grabs the eyeballs of the
readers. It can be managed by Datawrapper, Infogram and Flourish.
Datawrapper can be accessed from https://www.datawrapper.de/. Infogram
can be accessed from https://infogram.com/. Flourish can be accessed from
https://flourish.studio/. Other online programs have been beneficial for data
journalism. These are – Tableau Public, FlowingData, The R Graph
Gallery and Geojournalism – which have been enhancing the quality of data
journalism in terms of data visualizations. Tableau Public enables data
visualization free of cost. It is beneficial for featuring blogs, videos and other
relevant resources. Apart from enhancing the quality of visualization,
FlowingData has the facility of tutorials and courses for its members. The R
Graph Gallery accommodates visualizations in which R packages are
highlighted. Geojournalism enables data journalists in the field of
environment to optimally use geographic data through tutorials.
Data journalism frameworks have its own significance in the space of
data journalism. Workbench, a platform which can be accessed from
http://workbenchdata.com/. The platform does not require coding. It is
beneficial for the journalists who are not well-versed in coding. R -
Tidyverse suite can be accessed from https://www.tidyverse.org/and Python
– Pandas can be accessed from https://pandas.pydata.org/. However, R -
Tidyverse suite and Python – Pandas for the programs which can potentially
analyze the open data sources which further can be used for telling data
stories to the audience.
There are other useful programs which have been proved staples of data
journalists. The programs like Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, RStudio,
The Jupyter Notebook, QGIS and OpenRefine have created a significant
space in mobilizing data journalism in newsrooms across the globe. A data
journalist must be equipped with certain skill sets. He/she should have the
ability to set the goals as per the goals of the newsroom to which he/she
belongs to. He/she should be committed to overcoming any sort of barriers in
the newsroom in order to employ data for telling stories.
A data journalist should aptly set his/her goal. The venture of data
journalism can turn into success if there is adequate support from the top
management in the media organizations. There should be constant
communication within the newsroom on the data, source of data, mode of
analysis and the style of conclusion and interpretation. Building and
enhancing skills are required for all the abovementioned phases. The
multidisciplinary team is the newer demand and requirement that data
journalism requires. The team should start with learning small skills like
Excel and the fundamentals of statistics. Later, they can move to higher level
of calculations required for understanding and interpreting the complex data
sets for data storytelling. Moreover, multidisciplinary teams and hybrid
profiles are of utmost required for creating powerful data stories. Research
reveals that especially, hybrid profiles have assisted and expanded the
journalists’ knowledge and power (de-Lima-Santos, 2022). It has led to
strengthening the professional culture and creates a climate for cross-sector
activities. The data skills and collaboration with other journalists enable a
journalist to overcome an individual journalist’s capacity and experience on
certain topics. To make this happen, there should be enthusiasm from the
bottom in the newsroom. In this context, the statement of Lucy Kueng can be
cited. Kueng (2017, p. 36) states, “Leaders can’t shift a culture alone”.
Leaders can influence and command the show, but the followers should
attempt to adopt and emulate the instructions. Same applies to the adoption of
data news stories in newsrooms
Data compilation, data cleaning, data understanding, data validation, data
visualization and article writing or telling data stories are the essential parts
of data stories meant for the audience. Data journalism commences with the
collection and compilation of the data. The data can be collected from open
sources or observation. Advanced searching techniques enable journalists to
search for the required data out of a pool of data. Sometimes the data are
converted from one format to another format to meet the requirements.
DocumentCloud facilitates journalists to search, analyze, annotate and
publish the primary source documents employed in reporting. Data cleaning,
the next stage in data journalism is the process in which the data are
corrected if there are mistakes. Mistakes or inaccuracies are to be polished.
In this process, a data journalist removes the error portion of the data and
coverts the data into a required format. In the stage of data understanding, a
journalist should be data literate. The stage of data visualization demands a
journalist to graphically represent the data to gain visibility and grab the
eyeballs of the audience. The last stage is data storytelling in various
platforms of communication. In all the stages, a journalist should possess the
ICT skills. It is found that the required skills are dynamic in nature.
Adapting and emulating the rightful changes in the space of information
environment is required. Computerized newsrooms and the space for
computational journalism with a sense of creativity are also essential to
develop and make journalism more engaging, critical and analytical.
Motivating the team members matters a lot. However, finally telling a data
story in an effective manner remains the bottom-line for a data journalist. It
enhances the credibility of a news media organization.
In this context, Sarah Slobin from Reuters underlines,
 “We can paint pictures of our entire lives with our digital
trails. From what we consume and browse, to where and
when we travel, to our musical preferences, our first loves,
our children’s milestones, even our last wishes – it all can be
tracked, digitized, stored in the cloud and disseminated. This
universe of data can be surfaced to tell stories, answer
questions and impart an understanding of life in ways that
currently surpass even the most rigorous and careful
reconstruction of anecdotes.”

(O’Reilly Media, 2020)

7.9 Aspects of Data Journalism

Broadly there are four aspects of data journalism – computer-assisted
reporting, infographics, data visualization and interactive visualization –
which have been influencing and shaping up the journalistic practice. It is
quite pertinent to discuss how these levels have fueled the essence of data
journalism.

7.9.1 Computer-Assisted Reporting

Computer-assisted reporting (CAR) refers to utilizing computers to compile,
analyze and write the data stories for the audience. The computer-assisted
text analysis or reporting is all about text analysis, which is understood “a
research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from text to
their context” (Popping, 2000, p. 7). To some, the CAR is also known as
precision or analytic journalism, which indicates exploiting the methods or
systems of social science and other disciplines by the reporters. The working
culture has undergone multiple transformations.
CAR was first employed in the year 1952 by CBS to foresee the
presidential election results in the US. “Offshore Leaks” is an instance when
CAR was used by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ) to unravel certain secret facts about offshore companies and political
people in connection with evading taxes. Another instance “The Migrants
Files in which CAR was used by a team of data journalists reported a data
story on the migrants” deaths at European Union’s borders. The data story
was exclusive in nature in which the perils of different migration routes were
analyzed and reported (Lictherman, 2014). Liliana Bounegru who was
formerly associated with the European Journalism Centre states,

“At the moment the nascent community of people who call

themselves data journalists is largely distinct from the more
mature CAR community. Hopefully in the future, we will see
stronger ties between these two communities, in much the
same way that we see new NGOs and citizen media
organizations like ProPublica and the Bureau of
Investigative Journalism work hand in hand with traditional
news media on investigations. While the data journalism
community might have more innovative ways to deliver data
and present stories, the deeply analytical and critical
approach of the CAR community is something that data
journalism could certainly learn from (O’Reilly Media,
2020).”

7.9.2 Infographics
Infographics, another aspect of data journalism, is all about telling news
stories by using information and graphics. Hans Rosling’s data story on
world poverty with Gapminder has grabbed the eyeballs of millions of
audiences (O’Reilly Media, 2020). In recent years, this tool is mobilizing
data journalism. Isotypes, a form of infographics, enables to disseminate
information at a quicker pace and with ease. For example, visual journalism
remains an important part in the space of data journalism in the BBC
(Leimdorfer, n.d.). Nowadays, visual journalism is grabbing the maximum
eyeballs of audience, especially in the digital platforms.

7.9.3 Data Visualization

Data visualization is an area which attracts the interdisciplinary fields. With
the help of data visualization, graphical representation of the data can be
accomplished. Rooted in descriptive statistics, this tool of data journalism
attempts to map and visualize data stories for the audience. Data
visualization enjoys the domain of both Art and Science (Gershon & Page,
2001). Essentially, it is a matter of creativity and logical in presentation.

7.9.4 Interactive Visualization

Interactive visualization is understood as part of graphic visualization in
computer science in which humans tend to interact with computers to make
the graphics interactive. Media outlets for news can interact with their
audiences through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platforms.
Viewers can interact with a real-world environment more easily thanks to
augmented reality. A combination of the real and virtual worlds, in-the-
moment interaction and precise 3D registration of real and virtual objects are
the three fundamental characteristics that tend to define AR. VR refers to
simulated experience which could be similar to or absolutely dissimilar from
the real world. With the advent of such platforms, the acceptance of data
journalism is on the rise and shaping up the future of journalism . These tools
have redefined the nature and impact of journalism.

7.10 Pedagogical Deliberations and Data

Journalism
Lars Rinsdorf and Raoul Boers (2016) opine that technological and digital
revolutions bring disruptions in the journalistic practice. Data journalism,
one form of disruption in journalism practice, is also being manifested in the
education of journalism. To make such education and pedagogy effective, the
dynamics and complexity of multidisciplinary cooperation are highly sought.
Collaborative and transparent networks are the need of the hour.
A study conducted in Canada reveals that with the emergence and
proliferation of data journalism, this practice-based training is getting
translated into pedagogical innovations in journalism schools. The learning
and training opportunities have enabled aspiring journalists to surmount the
resistance to undergo and accept new form of journalism pedagogy (Leask,
2017). The collective and collaborative manner of learning has facilitated
data journalism to undergo transformations. Studies find that there are
epistemological shifts in the light of pedagogy and practice pertaining to data
news stories. However, there is a severe scarcity of research pertaining to
data acquisition techniques in the context of journalism education (Leask,
2017). Moreover, empirical studies in this direction are the need of the hour.
Certain journalists use data journalism as part of their routine work in the
newsrooms. Teaching data journalism is also found comparatively slow.
Similarly, Allen Munoriyarwa (2020) finds that many areas of journalism are
yet to be part of journalism practice and training. Paul Bradshaw (2018, p.
10) states,

“Conceptual frameworks, such as computational thinking

and communities of practice, can be useful in this regard,
while course and assessment design which is flexible
enough to accommodate different editorial challenges can
ensure that students are given the freedom to develop
different technical skills that fit relevant editorial demands,
rather than the other way around.”

Now with the inclusion of metaverse in the world of technological

innovations, data journalism might be influenced and so also the pedagogical
approaches to data journalism. Metaverse is equipped to meet media in the
minds of media consumers. With the passage of time, journalism is slowly
moving and shifting toward subscription model. All these aspects are worth-
discussing and to be duly part of pedagogical deliberations.

7.11 Data Journalism: Deliberations on Growing

Perspectives
With the emergence and execution of data journalism, journalism as an art
and profession has undergone abundant transformations. It has enriched the
spirit of journalism and journalism has been explored and reexplored in the
light of skills, transparency, requirement of audience, platform of
communication and news values. However at the same time, it has raised
umpteen amounts of deliberations which are warranted at this point in time.
The data revolutions are happening due to the emergence and execution of
technologies. The United Nations (UN) has pitched the data for Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) which are inclusive in nature. However, the risk
of digital divide and inequality are simultaneously growing rapidly. The data
revolution is slow-paced in least-developed countries (United Nations, n.d.).
Fostering innovations to eliminate the gaps in terms of data, mobilizing
resources of all sorts to mitigate the disparities between developed and
developing countries and promoting leadership that will eventually make the
data revolution possible for the actualization of sustainable development.
Sustainable development is a remarkable recommendation for nations
worldwide. The UN Global Pulse from the UN is an initiative on data
science which aims to safely unlock the value of data for the cause of
development of human society. The initiatives like Data Revolution Group,
Data Privacy Advisory Group and Data for Climate Action challenge are
noteworthy in a view to make the data sources sustainable for nations
worldwide.
There is a marked difference in the practice of data journalism. The world
of journalism is getting constantly influenced by technological upgradations.
With the latest inclusion of metaverse, the world of media is reading to
witness newer audience experience and data journalism will be no exception
to it. However, the dichotomies in terms of using the tools of data journalism
are all pervasive and are getting wider between the developed and
developing nations. When the whole world is thinking of wiping out the
digital divide, the absence of certain technological tools in newsrooms in
certain countries has created the syndrome of information disparity.
Since the access to the data and information are human rights, the use of
journalism tools for mining, analyzing and interpreting the data remains
imperative. However, the use of data for development and humanitarian
efforts is still a crucial issue that hasn’t been brought up for persistent
discussions. Data journalism is influenced by big data, the data revolution
and the data for sustainable development. As a result, this has thrown myriad
questions on journalistic cultures and markets for further systematic
investigations. In reality, cultural changes are harder for execution than
technologies. Asim Tewary who was earlier associated with Verizon and
was dealing the data science opines,

“Data only creates value when you’re able to get it from all
the difference sources … to have a common platform,
common data science team to drive revenue across the
businesses. It is not your data or my data; it is the firm’s
data, and the value you create for the business is from that
data. It is a transformation. It’s changing the people culture
aspect, so there’s a lot of education. You know, you have to
be an evangelist. You wear multiple hats to show people the
value.”

(O'Brien, 2018)

Creating a change or shift in the use of big data remains a cultural challenge.
It needs time and demands patience for bringing transformations in the entire
scene. So, much effort in the direction of social and cultural training has to be
imparted to witness the change and development. For bringing development,
positive changes are inevitable. The issues of using data journalism in non-
Western countries have become quite apparent. Precise culture orientation in
telling data stories has to be maintained (Mutsvairo, 2019). The newsrooms
need to promote data literacy and the required amount of innovations. To
foster the spirit of data literacy, interventions from government, private and
civil society are warranted. Data literacy remains a key factor for any sort of
technological improvements.
Research is an essential part of data journalism. To mine relevant and
accurate data, research skills are of utmost importance. Mutsvairo (2019a, p.
8) underlines, “without the development of a body of research about how
data journalism is being practiced and/or hindered in non-Western contexts,
there is a risk that it will contribute to a widening of the cultural divide”. It is
observed that researchers are being employed to assist the data journalists in
progressive media outlets. On the contrary, usually such kind of resources is
not available in newsrooms in developing nations. Financial constraints are
the major factors behind the scene. Therefore, this needs to be bridged in
order to tap the power of data journalism to the fullest.
Certain skills are warranted to make data journalism a success.
Journalists working in the newsrooms should possess the skills to curate,
filter, analyze and synthesize the data for storytelling for the audience. Data
stories have wider reach and implications which can strengthen the news
stories more accepted among the audience. However, it is observed that
several journalists are not equipped with minimum skills required for such
kind of computational journalism. In some newsrooms in developing nations,
journalists are being slowly exposed to the area of data journalism. They are
being sluggishly trained. Moreover, a pedagogical approach is quite pertinent
to such issues. There should be a holistic approach to pedagogy and practice
of computational journalism. Journalism and media contents attempt to pay
respect to local ethos, cultural patterns and cultural developments of the
audience in terms storytelling. These are also part and partial of media laws
and ethics. However, data journalism cannot rule out the abovementioned
particulars as the data stories are made out of technological tools. Data
journalism should critically consider the local ethos, cultural patterns and
cultural developments.
It is quite understood that financial constraints are also there before
digital activism and data journalism in non-Western nations. Media
organizations in non-Western nations are unable to purchase or subscribe to
the required amount of tools for newsrooms for the well-execution of data
journalism which can change the narrative of news storytelling to the
audience. This inconvenience needs to be discussed and some kind of
solutions need to be chalked out so that data journalism can emerge and
perform to the fullest. Funding from the government or private entities or
partnership from private and public can be beneficial to start this kind of
computational journalism.
Data journalism has the power and potential to bring transparency and it
can hammer and wipe out the level of corruption in developing countries. It
could add inputs for good governance and transparency. It is found that data
journalists are equipped with transnational networks in developed countries.
However, these are the least possible and the scopes are scarce among
journalists in developing countries. These dimensions need to be thoroughly
understood and debated for amicable solutions.
 Porlezza and Splendore (2019) find that data journalism is getting popular
in Italy. Palomo, Teruel, and Blanco-Castilla (2019) reveal that data
journalism is quite accommodative in Latin America. The audience
participation is getting buzzed and wider in the places like Colombia. They
are able to expose the stories which are causing human rights violations.
However, there is a tough time for the reporters and editors in the Arab
region. There are ample restrictions to access the relevant data. The scope of
such kind of journalism is limited and hence is hard to thrive. Palomo et al.
(2019) confirm that the culture of data journalism and investigative reporting
is missing in Latin America. Thailand is not a nation which endorses the idea
of data journalism. The reasons could be the practice of old schools of
journalism or lack of innovations in the newsrooms (Thienthaworn, 2018).
There is a scarcity of studies on various dimensions pertaining to data
journalism. The study on the nature and approach to storytelling through
numerical stories is also missing. There is no literature which discusses the
pedagogy and practice of data news stories in liberal, democratic and
corporate media system. However, it is often found that the newsrooms in
liberal and democratic media system are not keen or equipped with the skill
sets to execute computational journalism. On the other hand, corporate media
houses are spearheading in disseminating such type of data stories to the
audience. Corporate media platforms tend to use data tools for business and
commercial activities. However, newsrooms in developing countries are
keen to employ the data tools for overall development. The use of data for
news stories could be development communication in nature. Similarly, there
has been no discourse on gender dimension pertaining to the use of
computational journalism. Comparative studies, keeping various countries,
can be carried out. Since gender dimension is an important factor, this felt
need should be fulfilled by bridging the research gap. The study on the use of
data tools in regional and national media can be studied through exploratory
research. There is no scientific study that highlights which data tools are used
more on which kind of news stories across the globe. Moreover, the use of
data tools for the purpose of sustainable development is grossly missing.
The United Nations attempts to use big data for sustainable development
in the world. It underlines,
 “Fostering and promoting innovation to fill data gaps;
mobilising resources to overcome inequalities between
developed and developing countries and between data-poor
and data-rich people; Leadership and coordination to enable
the data revolution to play its full role in the realisation of
sustainable development.”

(United Nations, n.d.)

The data revolution with the help from data journalism can realize and fetch
peace, dignity and equality to human society. By taking such efforts,
sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be achieved and maintained. In
this context, Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, quotes,

“Data-driven journalism is the future. Journalists need to be

data-savvy. It used to be that you would get stories by
chatting to people in bars, and it still might be that you’ll do
it that way sometimes. But now it’s also going to be about
poring over data and equipping yourself with the tools to
analyze it and pick out what’s interesting. And keeping it in
perspective, helping people out by really seeing where it all
fits together, and what’s going on in the country.”

(O’Reilly Media, 2020)

7.12 An Intersection of Data with Artificial
Intelligence
It is worth mentioning that the field of journalism has been undergoing
continuous changes. Big data and analytics are influencing journalism to a
great extent. Suffice to say, data journalism has created a niche in the field of
journalism. Computer-assisted reporting, infographics, data visualization and
interactive visualization which are part and partial of data journalism and it
is being influenced by artificial intelligence techniques.
The use of AI in newsrooms has the ambivalence of both advantages and
disadvantages. Data journalism is becoming the fastest-growing field of
journalism across the globe. AI is mobilizing data journalism at a faster rate
by analyzing and synthesizing the data into news stories. It also attempts to
generate the required amount of imageries and videos. Since many media
organizations face the crunch of resource and financial instability, it can
employ computational tools for data stories which are fact-based news
stories. AI tools have their own advantages. However, to use AI tools in the
newsrooms need basic resources and minimum financial assistance. These
need to be dealt with at the beginning before tapping the power of AI to tell
AI-enabled data stories.
The data enable the reporters to find out and file news stories easily.
From a given data set, a number of analyses and interpretations can be made
to tell data stories to the audience. Moreover, with the tools emerging from
AI, data journalists can explore numerous perspectives from the data and file
data stories for the audience. Discovering things at a faster pace from the
numerical is becoming possible. Data journalism facilitates in throwing the
light on murky issues. And it is getting better with the inputs from AI. The
data provide the details and distance on a given issue or event. The data
speak louder than the rhetoric or conversation without numerical. The data
stories backed by numbers, analysis, synthesis and presentation are found to
be better appealing to the audience. With the support from AI tools, data
journalism can be overwhelming for the audience. There is no doubt that
news consumption of data stories is unique in taste and feedback from the
perspectives of audience.
 We live in a world that is made up of data and content. We can create a
large number of AI chatbots with just a few keyboard clicks. Thanks to the
availability ChatGPT language model which provides potential platforms to
transform our interaction with machines. ChatGPT has the potential to
produce interactive infographics which remain as part of data journalism. In
data journalism, infographics play a significant role. There are various ways
that ChatGPT can be used to make interactive infographics. ChatGPT can
create text and dialogue for interactive infographic elements. Journalists can
ask ChatGPT questions about particular landmarks or historical events in an
infographic about the history of a particular city, for instance, and get a
human-like response. By providing them human-like responses to their
inquiries, it can give the journalists a personalized and engaging experience.
A variety of AI tools, including a fact check explorer, data visualizer and
real-time content insights, are included in Google’s Journalist Studio. This
AI tool enables journalists to work more effectively and safely (Influencer
Marketing Hub, 2023). AI tool, CrowdTangle allows journalists to track
reader engagement with the data, including which social media users have
shared a given URL hyperlink or keyword on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and
Instagram. The tool can provide a real-time view of social media trends
(Sengul-Jones, 2021).
The assortment of analytical tools is heavily used in computational
journalism which is very much part of computational journalism. However,
the data and computation used for discovering, writing and disseminating the
data stories, keep on changing from time to time. It is found that journalists
pick the unstructured data, convert them into structured data and present the
data into a news story for the audience. It often happens in political events
and political storytelling computational journalism is being leveraged. AI has
become a catalyst in mobilizing political storytelling covering the election,
voting patterns and predictive assessments.
The International Consortium of International Journalists probed into
Paradise Papers by employing data news stories (The International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 2020). Sometimes data journalism
enables to find out and assess the impact of politics on public policy
(Eliazàt, 2020a). The CAR is intensifying data storytelling as several data
sources are open. In one way, the open data sources tend to democratize
storytelling which ultimately engages the audience to tell their stories.
Reuters started using AI in algorithm-based news production and
distribution. Reuters News Tracer has enabled and empowered journalists to
find out and authenticate real news in real time on Twitter. With aids from the
Reuters News Tracer, the journalists went ahead and broke stories at a faster
pace compared to any other sources. The algorithm most importantly scanned
the social media networks including Twitter to draw stories which are
newsworthy events and deliberations in varied areas and domains. Later, it
picked up the keywords and points which were essential for algorithmic
journalism. Data science and AI companies are fast marching and are
foraying into the space of journalism. Organizations like Automated Insights,
Narrative Science are able to provide algorithms to news outlets.
AJ Labs, the data and interactive journalism unit of Al Jazeera originated
in the year 2011 (Newman, 2011, 2018). The New York Times has introduced
semantic discovery, comment monitoring in the year 2015 under its project
“Editor” (Underwood, 2019). Tagging and annotation are becoming possible
at the news article level. The project highlights how to expand the writing
and publishing processes to create what is already written and to create the
layers of structured news information. As a result, it can be showcased in
varied formats of one new article. Journalist Studio from Google, is a
cutting-edge technological platform that facilitates journalists to explore,
analyze and write data stories. The BBC has been using Juicer, driven by
artificial intelligence and helping to tag news stories. Similarly, the
Associated Press has been optimally using AI tools for telling the data
stories (Saxena, 2020). The BBC Visual and Data Journalism team has been
employing R’s ggplot2 package for digital storytelling. For optimal data
exploration, R’s data visualization package ggplot2 remains an essential
tool. It also provides ample scopes for creativity with plenty of choices of
graphics. The media outlet is able to create production-ready charts;
document and record processes; and code and share the stories among the
audience. This game changer has taken the state of data journalism to the next
level. R cookbook and aggplot reference manual have been found to be
instrumental in collecting, analyzing and disseminating data stories. Bbplot is
a tool used by the BBC (Eliazàt, 2020b) to manage the recurring problems. It
simplifies the work flows in news industry.
The cookbook is a guidebook in which the collected knowledge of
ggplot2 can be assembled. A reference manual may not help the team how to
manage its first chart in R. However, it is instrumental in assembling the tips
and tricks. The cookbook is used in several progressive newsrooms across
the globe. It enables the newsrooms to induce a reproducible workflow,
resulting in the creation of numerous charts in varied forms. To some
scholars, robot journalism can be considered a platform in the space of data
journalism (Galily, 2018).
In this context, Lindén (2017, p. 24) claims, “Digital revolution has
expanded the supply and availability of data that can be used for
computational journalistic processes, along with the expectation of events to
a larger extent than before”. Diffbot’s AI knowledge repository is
empowering journalists to check and bust the fake news. Diffbot has come
forward to collaborate with the European Journalism Centre to bust and
combat fake news (Brown, 2019). Needless to say, the issue of fake news
and misinformation is creating havoc worldwide and needs to be amicably
fixed. Misinformation in the space of journalism can be controlled by
technological interventions.
Adam Thomas, Director of the European Journalism Centre points out,

“We firmly believe that the use of data in journalism is a

cornerstone of building resilience in any newsroom, but
access to clean, searchable data is often prohibitively
expensive for many journalists and news organizations.
Partnering with Diffbot gives our members free access to
more data than we’ve ever seen, and this is data being
curated through AI without human bias, which makes it
even more valuable for journalists.”

(Brown, 2019)

One interesting thing that data journalists are doing is that they are able to
engage the audiences with crowd-sourced projects which are generally
collaborative in nature. With the use of numerical data stories along with the
employment of technologies and programming, professionalism is getting
enriched in newsrooms. Specialized correspondents are being developed and
executed for special reports. Special stories are being told to the audience
with assistance from rigorous scientific methods. Special stories occupy a
significant place in any media outlets as compared to stories created from
regular happenings, notifications and announcements from government or
companies and press conferences. New media organizations are keen on
making and telling exclusive specialized news stories to the audience.
Exclusive news stories both matter to news media outlets and the audience.
Data journalism used in newsrooms suffers from various shortcomings. AI
is being used in certain newsrooms to mine the data for metric-driven
journalism, algorithmic journalism, data journalism and automated
journalism. However, it has raised numerous doubts and concerns among
journalists in the newsrooms across the globe. To some scholars, we are
undergoing a transitional phase and the use of AI is getting tested and the
final outcomes are yet to come in a concrete manner. We can take the
decision later. We are not in the opinion that which portion of AI is to be
used the most or least or what has to be used at what point of time. The
decision will be collective, collaborative and time bound. Of course, the
media world has been experimenting various AI tools.
Few newsrooms in media outlets like The Guardian, BBC, Financial
Times and The Times are employing and spearheading cutting-edge data
journalism. They are able to value the importance of computational
journalism (Borges-Rey, 2016). There is little doubt left that computational
journalism is bringing exclusive data stories. However, newsrooms in
developing countries are not able to tap the power of data journalism
because of varied constraints. The technological divide is quite apparent in
national and regional media outlets in developing countries. Of course,
curiosity is there, chaos is also there, charisma is there and confusion is also
there. All these are prevailing in the newsrooms and have pushed the
discussion on AI to the next level which ought to be tested in the light of
pragmatism and viability. When we talk of pragmatism and viability; finance,
resource, location and cultural aspects automatically come to the fore.
To use AI in data journalism not only requires funds, but also demands
plenty of time to understand the system and execute the technologies to do
wonders for data storytelling. Sometimes, the nose for news in the
newsrooms is taking a backseat in the newsroom. There is fear that the human
interventions to choose and place the news for the audience will gradually
diminish. However, at any time man is more powerful than a machine.
Machine cannot blindly replace men. This kind of disruptive features seems
to be apparent where journalists are becoming sensitive to the data in telling
data-based news stories to their audience.
Sometimes, data journalists are skeptical about the output of statistics
being utilized for telling data stories to the audience even though the output is
based on scientific evidences, logical rigor and process. Sometimes the data
derived from social networks like Facebook cannot be fully relied upon and
hence, any such data stories could be erroneous and mislead the audience.
Data stories through AI algorithms may recreate the existing trust deficit and
biasness. If the existing sources suffer from biasness and later if these
sources are taken and executed through AI algorithms, this will just replicate
the biasness and distrust in the process of storytelling. Biasness will be
multiplied in the system. As a result, news values and journalistic ethics will
go haywire. It will just accumulate the misinformation and disseminate the
same to the audience. It will create a void in the journalistic practice and
profession. This has to be duly taken care of, keeping the journalistic
practice and the belief of citizens on journalism as well. News media
organizations and the journalists’ fraternity have a greater role to play in the
eco-system of production, distribution and consumption of news. News
media eco-system needs to be proactive and sensitive to the algorithm
concerns to amicably avoid the issues.
With the tools of AI, it cannot correct the inaccurate data used for data
stories. For this, human inventions are required. Therefore, human
journalistic skills are required. For the well functioning of a newsroom along
with machine and scientific tools, human interventions are required. 5 Ws &
1 H of news report writing are yet to be fully accurate and logical by using
AI tools. Suffice to say, this format of news writing and journalistic format
has proven advantages in grabbing the eyeballs of audience. At the same
time, newsrooms across the globe are getting ready to take the maximum
advantage of AI for data stories which enjoy the sense of facts and scientific
tempo.
With the immense rise of data stories, the role of data brokers is
unnecessarily increasing significantly. They tend to quantify the world even
though in certain cases there are no requirements. The surveillance and
studying of people and data, biometrics, automation of data, data creeping or
profiling consumer attitude and behavior are posing potential threats to news
reporting. By doing so, it may bring ethical issues to the fore. Consequently,
it may result in trust deficit between the news media and news consumers in
the time to come. It needs to be harmoniously dealt with to correct the flaws
in the process of implementing technological tools. Technological
innovations need to be thoughtfully trialed and executed.
Growing and sustaining data capabilities side by side despite financial
and staff constraints remains a challenge to media organizations. Needless to
say, AI tools are prohibitively expensive. Again thinking, executing and
sustaining AI-driven data journalism has become a critical area for top
executives who administratively or financially run their media organizations.
Moreover, it is an ongoing process and the decision or solution needs to be
tailor-made. Therefore, policies executed and adopted in one media
organization cannot be emulated or replicated without understanding the
background and future possibilities for a news outlet. Usually, an appropriate
technology can do wonders in various fields including news media
organizations.
Technology leapfrogging remains an effective way that enables
developing countries to attain the advanced forms of ICT development (Tan
& Jiang, 2018). The process facilitates the developing nations to catch up the
economic growth at a quicker pace by skipping the intermediary stages for
development. It brings social-cultural and economic development of a
society along with the adoption of technological advancements. However, the
barriers like knowledge gap, technological barriers and financial constraints
are always there to stop the process of technology leapfrogging. In the
context of using AI tools in data journalism, unfortunately similar things are
happening. Some of the newsrooms had not been equipped with tools of data
journalism. They had been using the traditional method of news storytelling.
There were no computational ways of data storytelling. However, with the
spurt in AI tools, those newsrooms have started using AI tools for data
journalism. The newsrooms have been transformed by skipping the
intermediary stages of innovations and applications. Of course, the
newsrooms are facing certain issues pertaining to knowledge gap,
technological barriers and financial constraints.
Many a time, there are differences between the reporters and editors on
data stories being told to the audience. Usually, the differences emerge in the
newsrooms as the credibility of source and varying interpretations arise from
a data set. Again, with the arrival of AI tools, skepticism has stepped into the
newsrooms and the gaps between reporters and editors are getting more
apparent. Sometimes, the reporters favor AI tools and they pitch the stories
based on technologies. However, the editor who takes the decision may not
like the idea and subsequently disapprove the story idea. In certain cases, the
editor suggests or directs the team of reporters to use AI tools for
computational stories. However, the reporters find it not feasible all the time
to file and tell the data stories to the audience. It is often observed that news
stories are sensitive which decides whether to use AI tools or not. This
nature of deliberation is also adding woes to the healthy skepticism in the
newsrooms.

7.13 Concluding Remarks

To sum up, the use of AI tools for data journalism has become inevitable.
Since the world is changing at a faster pace, the need for communication
revolutions is much warranted. Communication in general, journalism in
particular is a niche professional area where inventions, adoption and
applications of newer technologies are of utmost required. Suffice to say,
data journalism is an effective way for news storytelling in which an array of
technologies is being applied. Again, with the advent of AI tools and other
newly included technological platforms like metaverse and ChatGPT, data
journalism has been witnessing a sea change. For data journalists, ChatGPT
is a priceless tool that can help with advanced statistical modeling, writing
code and producing insightful visualizations. A newsperson can save time,
simplify difficult procedures and improve his/her effectiveness as a data
journalist by implementing ChatGPT in cutting-edge newsrooms. However,
all these AI tools are in the testing mode which demands time, trials and
patience. However, this has resulted in changing paradigm shifts in
theoretical and practical approach to data journalism in particular and
journalism in general. Research and practical inputs need to be holistically
intensified so that newsrooms will find the AI tools conducive for data
journalism cutting across geographical locations worldwide.

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8 Data Journalism with Artificial
Intelligence

An Ambivalence of Good and Bad

DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-8

8.1 Introduction
The mode of communication has undergone transformations from smoke
signals to digital communication. In fostering change and transformations in
the field of communication in general and journalism in particular, the role of
technological innovations has been immense (Rogers, 2019). However, it has
raised umpteen debates and concerns about how to use the appropriate
technology. How to use technology for societal development has always been
a major concern. Similarly, data journalism is a unique way of telling data
stories to the audience by using certain technological tools. However, with
the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), data journalism has been fast-paced
with multiple possibilities and options. The ecology of newsrooms in
producing news contents across the globe has undergone sea changes.
However, it has invited numerous shortcomings which warrant thorough
deliberations.

8.2 Functions of AI Tools in Data Journalism

There are several AI-based tools being used for data search, classification,
validation, knowledge extraction, etc. AI tools such as Diffbot are developed
and it has employed machine learning algorithms as well as computer vision
tools to classify the data. The data could be searched using web crawling, or
the data could be fed to the Diffbot. The bot then classifies it by finding the
relevance of the keywords, graphical objects and pictures. The Natural
Language Processing (NLP) tools are employed for finding the relevance as
well as extracting the facts out of the textual data generated. The facts are
backed up by the percentage confidence level using the linkages generated.
The tool also cleans unnecessary and duplicate details as well as data with
partially supportive facts by normalizing the extracted data. This helps in
avoiding the spread of rumors and fake news. Every minute detail about the
data is made available to the publishing house which then could be compiled
to present in term of factual news to the consumer. Importantly, language is
not a barrier for the Diffbot and can operate in a wide variety of languages.
Similar to Diffbot, the Juicer tool employs several machine learning
methods and extracts news articles from a variegated source and then assigns
semantic keywords or entities such as organizations, locations, people and
things (other than the first three). The software then helps the journalist draw
inferences, co-occurrences by connecting these entities and generating a story
and extract believable information. Importantly the multimodal data in the
articles such as text, videos, images, etc., can be efficiently processed.
Moreover, the NLP tools employed can extract the audio/video speeches into
text form. The AI project by The New York Times referred to as Editor has
proven to be one of the quite innovative and very helpful semantic discovery
tools for journalists. It basically tags each and every classified entity such as
organizations, locations, people, things, etc., with the available database as
well as online sources. This helps the journalists to check the facts and apply
corrective measures in real-time. This tagging and relevance confirmation by
the journalists as well as AI software helps the system learn the more
relevant and salient parts of the article. The AI-based Perspective API tool
by Google employs sentiment analysis to classify the toxic and illuminating
comments to certain articles. Such information is made available to the
reader, commentators and moderators to find more relevant information, give
real-time feedback, etc.
The Chatbot tool is not new anymore. It is helping the consumers to
receive the news from The Guardian via Facebook Messenger. The relevant
articles from the US, UK and Australian versions of the newspapers are
searched accordingly. An NLP-based natural language generating tool such
as Quill generates stories and news based on the raw numbered data fed to it.
The data can be in the form of tables, plots, etc., and the tool employs several
filtering capabilities to generate the relevant stories. The tool further allows
conditional formatting based on the requirements of journalists.
There are newer avenues in the field of data analytics. Thanks to the
emergence of large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT. Accessing,
understanding and analyzing complex datasets is made simple for people
without coding expertise by these effective models. Data analytics
capabilities are becoming more inclusive and available to a broader
audience by merely asking them to visualize, condense, interpret and then
extract insights from a dataset. For data analysts to process, explore,
communicate and work together on their data-driven insights, ChatGPT can
be a useful tool.
In a given time, ChatGPT can analyze and process massive amounts of
data in an effective manner. The program can interpret and comprehend
written queries and offer pertinent insights from the data using ChatGPT’s
language processing capabilities. ChatGPT uses a vast amount of data that
has been previously trained on a wide variety of texts in order to produce
responses. By learning patterns and associations in language, the chatbot can
predict the words that will most likely follow a given sequence of words.
The output via AI tools can deliver a comprehensive and effective method
for data analysis and representation that is highly precise and customized to a
data journalist. By helping with activities like news aggregation, data
analysis, fact-checking and social media management, ChatGPT has the
potential to transform journalism.
Creating images from text is DALL-E. DALL-E is an open AI tool. Today,
this tool can copy the styles of artists who rely on their work for their
livelihood without giving them credit or any kind of payment. DALLE-2 is an
AI system that can produce realistic images and artwork from a description
in natural language. Concepts, traits and styles can all be combined. DALLE
2 generates several options for data journalists to choose from in a matter of
seconds. In addition to converting text into images, this tool can take an
image and produce frequent variations of it that are inspired by the original
one.

8.3 What Is Good or Bad with AI

It is quite justifying to trace and assess the state of data journalism which has
become an instrument in measuring and predicting the current space and
future of AI in data journalism. Since journalism has a huge gamut of
intersectionality, understanding pertinent factors in the context occupies a
greater significance.
Tellingly, artificial intelligence remains polysemous and problematic.
News media outlets have expanded its horizon by using AI tools for multiple
purposes which have further enabled thousands of machine-written stories to
be disseminated and served to the audience on a daily basis. However, the
application of AI tools in newsrooms has its own advantages and
disadvantages. Logical deliberations are warranted. Pertinent perspectives
need to be discussed, considering the use of AI tools in data journalism.
Some other perspectives endorse the very nature and utilitarian aspect of AI
tools whereas some others criticize the massive use of AI tools in data
journalism.

8.3.1 Journalistic Culture, Media-created Market and Political

Climate
Data journalism is taking its own course and shaping up the journalistic
culture, market and political environment. Sometimes it is influencing the
nature of journalism beyond liberal and democratic-corporatist media
systems. Needless to say, journalistic culture occupies an important place in
the ecology of media. Data journalism is getting its momentum by
strengthening the objectivity to the core of journalism. In some ways, it is
fostering the sense of participation of citizens in general and professionals
especially in the field of journalistic profession. However, the journalistic
practice in western countries is different from non-Western countries. In this
context, journalistic values play an important role. However, with no
surprise, the journalistic values are not universal (Appelgren, Lindén, & van
Dalen, 2019). Similarly, the practice of AI in newsrooms is not universal.
Therefore, bringing and maintaining objectivity in news stories remain the
core in the journalistic profession. It also gains the trust of the audience and
the credibility of news stories gets tangible.
In this context, Fenby (1986, p. 25) argues,
 “To achieve such wide acceptability, the agencies avoid overt
partiality. The demonstrably correct information is their
stock-in-trade. Traditionally, they report at a reduced level of
responsibility, attributing their information to a spokesman,
the press, or other sources. They avoid making judgments
and steer clear of doubt and ambiguity. Though their
founders did not use the word, objectivity is the
philosophical basis for their enterprises – or failing that,
widely acceptable neutrality.”

The need and demand for AI differs from Western countries to non-Western
countries. This has to be openly understood and accepted for future course of
action. Therefore, technological innovations need not be blindly accepted
and adopted. Appropriateness and relevance of technological innovations
need to be thoroughly debated before pushing them for final execution.
Similarly, the use of technologies in the field of journalism is no exception.
The media market structures have larger connections to journalism in
general and data journalism in particular. The media market structures have
been influential on newsrooms and overall media outlets. The newsrooms
and media organizations are financially viable in accommodating the
adequate tools and techniques required for data journalism in countries like
the United States. There is no dearth of resources for the advancement of
technologies for technology-driven storytelling to the audiences. This makes
the storytelling interactive and a greater amount of audience participation can
be achieved (Appelgren et al., 2019). Since the ecology of media market
keeps on evolving, plenty of factors are taken into consideration for the
implementation of something new in nature in media organizations. Shridhar
Subramaniam claims,

“The advent of OTT players, both domestic and

international, is providing consumers with multiple choices
around content consumption. We are seeing a shift in
consumer’s attitude from content ownership to having easy
access to a vast library at any time and place.”
 (Deloitte, 2015)

In the context of execution of AI in newsrooms, media market structures do

matter to a great extent. The financial viability of media outlets come first
when it comes to the use of AI tools for data journalism.
In this context, Jonathan Stoneman (2015) underlines,

“Relatively few data are updated in real time, and even fewer
datasets cover the mainstream of story content – money,
votes, and the data which government uses in its decision
making. For everything else, journalists in the UK still tend
to ask for the data they need, using the Freedom of
Information Act.”

Political atmosphere and journalism in general and data journalism in

particular are interrelated. The political atmosphere does affect the use of
data journalism. The changing shifts in globalization and political institutions
keep shaping the working atmosphere of journalists (Rao, 2019). Moreover,
in a view to bring and enhance the level of transparency and access to
official information, legislation in Latin American countries has been brought
(Palomo, Teruel, & Blanco-Castilla, 2019). However, things are not that
conducive in the Middle East and Northern Africa (Lewis & Al Nashmi,
2019). In the context of using AI, it has thrown numerous implications and
perspectives. In some countries, the utilization of official data and the
policies to use open data sources are not free-low in nature. In this context,
the use of AI for data journalism has become restricted, causing several
concerns for the newsrooms.

8.3.2 Cultural Ethos, Artificial Intelligence and Hyperlocal Data

Journalism
Journalistic norms and ethics tend to pay respect to the local and cultural
norms of a given society. Journalistic stories should abide by social
responsibility. It should value the religious sentiment of various communities
in terms of reporting. Data journalism should not be an exception to it. Since
computation journalism is based on statistical tools, its outcomes should be
verified and later disseminated to the public. Similarly, AI-driven data
stories should be verified before making it to the public. The newsrooms
should be sensitive so that any data stories won’t hurt any sociocultural and
religious sentiment. Human intervention needs to be involved in the process
of such kind of computational data stories. Hyperlocal data journalism is
taking off as regional media outlets are getting strengthened (Appelgren et al.,
2019). It can be predicted that AI-driven data journalism will emerge and
eventually will take off as per requirement and relevance. AI will render
more power to local or regional journalism along with journalism in the
English language.
There are studies which cover the aspects of local journalism. Some of
the academic investigations include understanding distance and geographical
places in local and hyperlocal news (Freeman, 2020), media accountability
(Tenor, 2018), reciprocity of journalists (Harte, Williams, & Turner, 2017),
local journalism for local communities (Napoli, Stonbely, McCollough, &
Renninger, 2017) and local news in digital news culture (Hess & Waller,
2016). However, studies on the aspects of data journalism pertaining to local
journalism are quite scarce. Again, the dimension of local journalism to data
journalism with the application of AI tools is yet to be navigated. Future
studies can be executed, keeping these dimensions in mind.

8.3.3 Credibility of Data and Data Journalism

The credibility of data used in data journalism plays a pivotal role which
ultimately influences the ethics and purpose of journalism. If the existing data
are in a bad shape, it only provides fodder to the flawed data journalism. The
case of Africa can be rightly cited here (Jerven, 2013). Poor quality of data
or substandard data can jeopardize the ethical sense and purpose of
journalism. It poses several pertinent questions. A report from the London
School of Economics and Political Science (2021) quotes,

“What do audiences mean when they are referring to trust in

media? Are they looking for unbiased, factually accurate
information? Or do they rather trust information that mirrors
their own values, views and life worlds?”
Going beyond, Charlie Beckett underlines, “Trust is a relationship, not a
fact” (London School of Economics and Political Science, 2021). Similarly,
when data journalism is not properly executed, the case could be the same in
case of employing artificial intelligence. Even though a newsroom may
procure the necessary arrangements required for AI to execute data
journalism, it may not fulfil the very purpose of data journalism in particular
or journalism in general. It happens because of flawed data sets used in
newsrooms across the globe. Use of AI tools for data journalism will only
multiply the flawed data and disseminate and automate the faulty data stories
in the process of algorithm.
ChatGPT can motivate journalists when they are struggling with creativity,
help them write more quickly when they are on a deadline and provide an
extra step to ensure their work is well-written and styled. However, this AI
tool should be used with human interventions from the journalists. It still
needs to have all of its facts and sources verified (International Journalists’
Network, 2023). Even though DALLE 2 functions well, it still has some
drawbacks. Creating images with coherent text is still not convincing yet.
Due to the skewed nature of data collected from the internet, DALLE 2 has
innate biases in addition to the limitations related to image generation.
Usually, it generates western features for many prompts and has gender-
biased representations of occupations (Medium, 2022).

8.3.4 Research, Skills, Time and Pedagogy

Carrying out research for the execution of data journalism is required.
Mutsvairo (2019a, p. 8) underlines, “without the development of a body of
research about how data journalism is being practiced and/or hindered in
non-Western contexts, there is a risk that it will contribute to a widening of
the cultural divide.” Interest and scientific studies are taking off in the field
of data journalism across the globe. High amount of in-depth research is of
utmost required to understand the origin, growth and further implications of
data journalism in the newsroom and on the audience (Kalatzi, Bratsas, &
Veglis, 2018). Certain amount of skills are warranted to execute
computational journalism in an effective manner. The data need cleaning for
further adjustment to use them for news stories. It needs plenty of time to
make it suitable for the requirement of the journalists. Time factor cannot be
ignored for curating, analyzing and interpreting the data. To implement the
tools of data journalism, training and pedagogy need to be adequate.
However, the teaching of data education is slow. Therefore, the pedagogical
interventions are not adequate to meet the requirements meant for processing
of news production. The ecology of news production is hanging in balance.
Technological innovations bring disruptions in journalistic practice,
especially in the space of data journalism. In this context, to utilize the
applications of artificial intelligence in journalism, a holistic pedagogical
approach and multidisciplinary cooperation are warranted. The required
amount of research, skills, time and educational training are limited in
developing countries as compared to developed countries. Similarly, these
dimensions are valid in case of employing AI tools for data journalism.
Timely research, required skills and a pragmatic pedagogical approach to AI
are the need of the hour to make data journalism success. AI tools facilitate
the newsrooms to curate, filter, analyze and synthesize the data for effective
data stories for the audience. AI has been found to be a niche journalistic
practice and gradually has emerged as a valuable asset in newsrooms in
legacy news media organizations across the globe.

8.3.5 Self-design, Collective and Collaborative Learning

Data journalism has pertinent factors to contribute to the pedagogy of
learning which influences the journalistic practice. It is found that several
data journalists across the world are self-taught (Young, Hermida, & Fulda,
2017). Autodidacticism or self-education is a modern way of learning
(Chapnick & Meloy, 2005). The industrial revolution has induced the
situation for self-directed learners. Eventually, data journalists are able to
curate, analyze and interpret the data for telling stories to the audience. It is
poised to position AI-driven journalism as society’s watchdog. AI tools can
be instrumental in dealing with the data deluge as tools tend to sort it out as
per requirement for data stories. Self-design and dissemination of data
stories by means of AI tools have proved to be beneficial for the newsrooms
and the audience as well. Similarly, AI tools can be self-taught which can
mobilize the newsrooms for computational journalism which will ultimately
produce better relevant and useful data stories to the audience.
Autodidacticism can be contextualized in the light of using AI tools for
computational journalism to tell data stories for the audience. ChatGPT-4, an
AI tool, has opened the options for collaborative learning in educational
settings. The way that journalists collaborate on projects, tasks and group
discussions could be completely changed by this ground-breaking tool.

8.3.6 Cross-national Communalities, Artificial Intelligence and

Data Journalism
Cross-national communalities and variances in data journalism worldwide
have become apparent. International experts have started deliberating on
disparities in executing data journalism across the globe (Appelgren et al.,
2019). In this context, using AI for computational productively, keeping the
differences in mind has occupied growing debates and concerns. Since the
requirements are different from context to context and from nation to nation,
using AI tools and machine learning for data journalism is not going to fetch
the required amount of results. It has increased the cloud of skepticism,
especially in developing nations. There is no doubt that the requirements and
applications are not uniform. Moreover, cross-national communalities and
variances in data journalism have been major concerns. The AI tools need to
be customized, keeping the needs and demands of newsrooms across the
globe.

8.3.7 Data Revolution for Change and Sustainable Development

International development agencies like the United Nations attempts to bring
changes and development for human society. The UN also believes that the
data are required for data stories, journalism and communication in general.
The data are required for social change communication and development.
Since the UN is keen on

“fostering and promoting innovation to fill data gaps;

mobilizing resources to overcome inequalities between
developed and developing countries and between data-poor
and data-rich people; leadership and coordination to enable
the data revolution to play its full role in the realisation of
sustainable development.”
 (United Nations, n.d.)

The big data combined with AI can bring significant changes and
development in human society on a global scale.
The global database including the World Bank Open Data, Global SDG
Indicators and Open SDG Data Hub are required for computational
journalism along with AI for inclusive development. Inclusive development
is purposive in nature. Moreover, inclusive development is also feasible.
Since the data on developmental dimensions from the world is huge in nature,
AI tools will help to verify, compile, analyze and interpret them for data
stories for global audience. Such type of computational journalism will reach
out to the government, policy makers, voluntary organizations and civil
society of various countries to develop the marginalized sections of the
society. The big data for development and humanitarian action can be
feasible. It will mobilize the SDGs and will meet the global goals like
achieving and maintaining international peace and security; safeguarding
human rights; providing humanitarian aid; and upholding international law.
Data revolution for sustainable development can be attained with the inputs
from AI. The big data combined with AI can be instrumental in realizing
peace, dignity and equality in the world. Overall, with the help of AI, the
information can be tracked and tapped for social change and sustainable
development.
AI has the power to change industries, economies and societies, and it is
increasingly seen as a major force for sustainable growth. The newly
invented AI tool, ChatGPT is a cutting-edge language model which facilitates
inclusive decision-making, encouraging inclusivity and enabling creative
responses to urgent global challenges, ChatGPT has the potential to
understand and mobilize social and environmental progress. By collecting
insightful data and facilitating efficient communication between stakeholders,
ChatGPT can meaningfully contribute to accelerating progress toward SDGs
listed in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By
fast-pacing decision-making procedures, ChatGPT can be a major force for
the attainable of sustainable development. AI-powered language models can
collect and analyze massive amount of data, spot trends and produce insights
that can guide policy and decision-making. Such an AI tool is essential for
developmental journalists to track the issues pertaining to sustainable
development. Researchers and professionals can explore a wider range of
options and find more efficient SDG-achieving strategies by utilizing the
power of AI tools.

8.3.8 Sustainability of Data Journalism and Artificial

Intelligence
Understanding the importance of data, it is pivotal to make data journalism
sustainable (Stalph & Borges-Rey, 2018). In a move to make artificial
intelligence sustainable in the space of data journalism, knowledge of AI
skills will be regarded as essential qualities for the journalists working in
newsrooms. As a genre, the use of AI for data journalism needs to be a niche
news storytelling. It can only be possible when smaller newsrooms will start
employing AI tools for computational journalism. AI might get a smaller
space in certain newsrooms because of financial and cultural constraints. In
view of this, AI will continue to innovate the tools to make data journalism
more effective. It will foster the climate of competitiveness in news
production in the ecosystem of media which constantly keeps on evolving.
Since AI tends to provide newer tools from time to time as per
requirements and demands, journalists need to acquire the required skills to
use AI tools in the newsrooms. Sometimes AI tools will create demand and
then newsrooms will adopt the tools for the proper execution of data
journalism. As a result, it will foster competitiveness among the media
outlets. Initially, progressive media organizations will adopt the AI tools in
their newsrooms and later smaller and medium size media outlets will
follow suit. The diffusion of innovation can take place in due course of time.
In addition, since AI is evolving in the space of computational journalism,
educational and training needs should be imparted to aspiring data journalists
from time to time. Designing sustainable data journalism activity is the need
of the hour. Sustainable data journalism will be the key talking point in the
future. Since AI tools are just evolving in developed nations, the wider
deliberations on its sustainability will be the next way forward.

8.3.9 Liberal, Democratic, Corporate Media, Artificial

Intelligence and Data Journalism
The use of data journalism in liberal and democratic media system and
corporate media system remains different as the functioning of states is
different (Crews Jr, 2020; Sauter, 2020). In this context, there is a dearth of
studies on the use of artificial intelligence for data journalism. There needs
to be pedagogical overhaul to bridge the gap. Usually, liberal and democratic
media employ data journalism in a scant manner as compared to the
corporate media. In the context of using AI for data journalism, liberal and
democratic media are yet to employ AI tools. Corporate media platforms
tend to use AI tools for business and commercial activities. The newsrooms
in developing countries are keen to employ AI tools for the development of
human resources in their countries. The time has come how the liberal media
and democratic media can use artificial intelligence in developing
journalistic output and taking to greater heights in media systems across the
globe. Of course, the slight indication has been signaled, but is yet to be fully
understood and media houses to act upon it.

8.3.10 Transparency, Artificial Intelligence and Transnational

Networks in Data Journalism
One of the important aspects of data journalism is transparency in data
stories. It exposes corruption and alimonies by collecting, analyzing and
interpreting the data sets. It is found that data journalists are skilled with
transnational networks in developed countries. Similarly, AI-driven data
stories tend to expose the shortcomings in the system. AI tools enable the
newsrooms to understand, to collect, curate, analyze and interpret the data for
telling data stories to the audience.
Ester Appelgren et al. (2019) state that data journalists across the globe
are bonded with strong transnational networking tradition. Journalists are
well versed with to arrange international conferences and imparting data
journalism skills to their peers. In this light, the application of AI tools can
be feasible through the transnational networking tradition. However, since
transnational networks of data journalists in developing countries are limited
because of several reasons, the applications of AI tools for data stories
remain limited. AI can only function and do wonders from the data set only,
not beyond these. In a view to enhance the applications and credibility of AI
tools, transnational networking of the journalists in developing nations needs
to be accelerated. The tools of Public Relations and liaisoning are the felt
need in this direction. The administrative apparatus and political will need to
play a proactive role to understand the power of data and data journalism.
Porlezza and Splendore (2019) claim that data journalism is doing well in
Italy. Palomo et al. (2019) assert that data journalism is effective in Latin
America. In countries like Italy and Latin America, AI-driven data tools can
do wonders to bring transparency. On the contrary in the Arab region, data
journalism is yet to be effective (Lewis & Al Nashmi, 2019). Therefore, AI
tools may not work efficiently for investigative data stories in countries like
Arab regions. Suffice to say, such kind of discourse has logical bearings on
the journalistic practice, culture, media market space and the political
climate.

8.3.11 Regional, National, International Media and Data

Journalism
The importance of regional media or local media is immense in portraying
regional issues. A diversity of viewpoints is being felt and disseminated to
the public (Gulyás & Baines, 2020. However, it is observed that the space of
data journalism in regional media is scarce as compared to national and
international media. However, there is no scientific study conducted on this
dimension. Similarly, the applications of artificial intelligence tools in
regional, national and international media organizations are to be
comparatively studied. Timeline and comparative studies can be navigated in
this direction. In addition, which beat of journalism has gained the most in
terms of executing AI tools for data journalism is yet to be explored.
Comparative studies and exploratory research can be carried out to
understand the penetration of AI tools. Since the penetration of news media is
on the rise in developing countries, the prospects of using AI in regional
media cannot be ruled out.

8.3.12 An Impactful Data Journalism

Facts remain essential components of impactful journalism. It makes the
news storytelling with a purpose (American Press Institute, 2021).
Sometimes it is observed that after the news report, the government
machinery takes prompt action to overcome or correct the issue. For
instance, the government took corrective action to address the issues of
farmers in India during the period of lockdown caused because of
coronavirus (Business Line, 2020). Precisely, it is apparent that consensus on
the importance of data journalism is on the rise, keeping the journalistic
practice and sustainability in the post-industrial marketplace in mind. In this
context, the use of artificial intelligence will be enhanced, resulting in
improvements in journalistic practice and impactful of data journalism.
Some of the earlier credible studies pertaining to the impact of data
journalism include audience participation in the media (Palomo et al., 2019),
journalistic constructs (Porlezza & Splendore, 2019), transparency,
interactivity and the attribution of information (Zamith, 2019), functioning of
data journalism projects (Young et al., 2017) and civic impact of data
journalism (Simons et al., 2017). In addition, there have been several studies
which highlight the importance of impactful journalism. However, academic
studies have not been directed to understand how AI applications will be
beneficial for impactful journalism. In a view to fill up the research gaps in
the arena of body of knowledge, academic probes can be directed in this
direction.

8.3.13 Data Literacy, Artificial Intelligence and Data

Journalism
In general, literacy is all about an individual’s ability to read, write and
make use of numerical. Literacy is always associated with social and cultural
elements. UNESCO (2006) states literacy as the “ability to identify,
understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and
written materials associated with varying contexts”. Baykoucheva (2015, p.
80) also defines, data literacy is the

“ability to read, understand, create and communicate data as

information. Much like literacy as a general concept, data
literacy focuses on the competencies involved in working
with data. It is, however, not similar to the ability to read text
since it requires certain skills involving reading and
understanding data”.
Ragne Kõuts-Klemm (2019) asserts that data literacy skills are required for
journalists. Data literacy develops the skills for the processing of the data
required for data storytelling for the audience. However so far, the data
literacy skills among the journalists have remained inadequate. This could be
the cause and effect of low level of data revolution across the globe. Data
revolution to actualize data democratization is often debated. It is quite
apparent that the issues of applying data journalism in western countries are
different from non-Western countries. The cultural orientation to data tools
plays a pivotal role in newsrooms (Mutsvairo, 2019b). Promoting data
literacy for adopting and emulating innovations is the key. In a similar
fashion, the application of artificial intelligence tools for computational
journalism needs the culture of data literacy and orientation toward the
innovation of data stories for the audience. To make this feasible, there needs
a movement to be supported by the news media houses, government, private
and civil society. Such kind of holistic approach is warranted.
Significant amount of studies have been conducted on data journalism
pertaining to journalism. Some of the credible investigations include open
journalism (Porlezza & Splendore, 2019), challenges before data journalism
(Mulnix, 2012), assessment of data journalism (De Maeyer, Libert, Domingo,
Heinderyckx, & Le Cam, 2015; Zamith, 2019), practice of data journalism
(Borges-Rey, 2016), sports journalism (Horky & Pelka, 2017), education on
data journalism (Heravi, 2019), objectivity in data journalism (Tong & Zuo,
2021) and sustainability in data journalism (Stalph & Borges-Rey, 2018).
However, there have been no core studies conducted on the implications of
artificial intelligence on data journalism so far. So, scientific studies need to
be directed in this perspective.
Any successful data journalism must have effective communication. The
advent of ChatGPT has contributed to the scope of such a form of journalism.
Journalists are able to make varied data stories with the assistance of this AI
tool. As a result, data journalism is becoming more impactful and meaningful
to the audience. However, digital literacy in employing ChatGPT in
newsrooms has been raised. While using ChatGPT in data stories, journalists
should be literate in excising this AI tool, failing to which data stories may
be skewed in structure which will further adversely influence the credibility
of news stories.
8.3.14 Leapfrogging, Dichotomy, Artificial Intelligence and the
Paradox
Artificial intelligence tools in accelerating data journalism in newsrooms
across developing nations reminds of the application of leapfrogging in the
field of journalism. Several newsrooms have not used the simple
applications of technologies for data journalism. However, many of them
have started using AI tools for data journalism which is based on numerical
and figures. It is predominantly occurring in developing nations in the world.
Leapfrogging can occur in every aspect of life and profession. The practice
and profession of journalism is no exception to it.
Leapfrogging comes into existence when any organization or nation adapts
to the latest technology by bypassing the traditional stages of technological
developments. This is one of the ways of alternative paths to development by
resorting to technological developments. A study conducted in the year 2017
by the World Bank on the development in Africa comments, “Vertiginous
changes brought about by the digital revolution in the past 20 years make
leapfrogging . . . not only a possibility but a necessity” (Yayboke, Carter, &
Crumpler, 2020). Similarly, the Ministry of Science, Technology and
Innovation in Uganda finds that Uganda “must support and invest in R&D so
that we can leapfrog the technological trends and developments, as we
modernize our industrial base and become a player on the global
technological platform” (Yayboke et al., 2020). In addition, the National
Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy Document from Ghana
argues, “In considering acquisition, mastering, development, improvement
and diffusion of new technologies, a chance remains to leapfrog from the
current low-technology status to more knowledge-intensive technologies”
through goals like “develop a national competence in computer hardware and
software engineering”, “attraction into Ghana … world-class solar energy
systems design and manufacturing capability”, and “establish Ghana as a
regional hub for high-performance materials systems” (Yayboke et al., 2020).
The use of technology is not just the solution to a problem in developing
economies. Rather it should act as an enabler to achieve the state of
sustainable development for maximum transformative effects. So, the uses of
technologies are expected to be sustainable and societal in nature.
 Moreover, with the emergence of newer technologies from time to time,
this has resulted in the state of digital divide. Earlier, Hall (1998) found that
elites attempt to monopolize the technological innovations. However, some
people belonging to underprivileged locations get access to the innovation
because of projects targeting decentralizing and implementing them in those
areas. Social conditions are not getting into discussion while implementing
newer technologies. The issue of content or technology-generated knowledge
is taking a backseat during the course of deliberation.
The use of technology is not a standalone entity rather it is based on
epistemological assumptions which have bearings on certain amount of
cultural values or identities and representations (Alzouma, 2005).
Technological applications are also creating the issue of language in non-
Western countries. The excessive use of English and European languages
while using technological innovations has also invited sheer criticism and
posed challenges for the creation and implementation of indigenous
knowledge. This is also occurring in the field of digital newsrooms across
the world and especially in developing nations. The discourse on using AI
tools is no exception to these dimensions and cannot be disqualified from
such types of perspectives.
The issue dichotomy is amply visible in several facets of life (Saha,
2020). By removing dichotomies, inclusivity can be maintained. Such kind of
inclusive approach can also pave the way for professional development
(Waitoller & Artiles, 2013). The profession of journalism can be aptly
contextualized here. There are dichotomies persisting in terms of using the
data for journalism. The acceptance of data journalism seems to have been
negotiated on several fronts for the sake of data journalism. Different
countries have different media markets. For example, Kiambi (2019) points
out that the lack of knowledge system is not allowing Kenyan journalists to
fully exploit the power of data journalism. Similarly, media markets of AI
tools can be assessed, considering the potential of exploiting such tools in
various countries across the globe. MdAminul Islam (2018) reveals that data
journalism in Bangladesh is not able to pick up because of lack of skills on
the part of journalists and nonavailability of open data sources. More
significantly, confusion has been created across the newsrooms regarding its
role and performance until such kind of journalism is not practiced diligently
(Kalatzi et al., 2018). This could be the possible reasons in developing
countries in South-Asian countries. Similarly, the penetration of AI tools in
newsrooms in South-Asian countries is slow-paced for computational
journalism. Lack of skills and knowledge systems to use AI tools in the space
of data journalism could be a new issue in the countries like India, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Be it an AI tool or any other technological innovation, it is not free from
domination or suppression of central powers. Alzouma (2005, p. 346) argues
similarly with Manuel Castells as

“technology is a symbol and a powerful means of

domination for ruling elites and societies. It participates in
the perpetuation of power and authority and becomes central
to negotiating identities and social conflicts. Identities can be
affected by the use of ICTs because individuals have to
think about themselves and define themselves in new ways.
New lines of division are even being created in the use of,
or, more precisely, the access to ICTs.”

For Castells (1997, pp. 82–92), the arrival of informational/global

capitalism is associated with a “dehumanization”, a “marginalization” or a
“selective integration” and a “technological apartheid” for developing
nations.
With the emergence and execution of artificial intelligence tools in
newsrooms, the syndrome of information disparity has come to the fore. The
requirement and confusion over AI tools have created a state of information
rich and information poor. To some, it is called information rich and
information poor. It further adds to the syndrome of information inequality,
which ultimately influences the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of a
society. When there are attempts and efforts across the globe to mitigate the
digital divide, the advent of AI tools has posed threats to data and digital
equality. Digital divide has popped up in newsrooms in media outlets present
in developing countries. The distress of automating inequality through AI
tools cannot be ruled out especially in developing countries. However, AI
tools need to be beneficial in overcoming the issue of information inequality.
Since accessibility to data and information are human rights, AI tools can be
instrumental in mobilizing data revolution and the data for sustainable
development. The executions of AI tools for computational journalism in
these nations have raised varied questions on journalistic culture and markets
for further systematic investigations. By removing dichotomies in the
professional sphere, inclusive approach to AI can be achieved and
maintained. Such an approach can make the use of these technologies in the
field of data journalism efficient and sustainable. Moreover, the resource-
strapped newsrooms can reach out to sign for a fruitful partnership with
academics or companies to have an initial experience with AI tools to take
things forward. The experimentations with AI in the newsroom should start at
a certain point in time.
Leapfrogging could be a good strategy to maximize the impact of data
journalism by using AI tools in newsrooms. Any technology used should be
an enabler of sustainable development (Yayboke et al., 2020). Since AI tools
can fasten the pace of journalistic process and production, it can bring
transformative effects in the newsrooms. Striking a perfect chord between the
machine and men in the newsroom should be critically deliberated.
However, there are all-time concerns on whether leapfrogging produces real
value to media organizations and the public.
Suffice to say, changing technological aspects remain a complex state
which is an interaction between the technological possibilities and
established journalistic forms. Further, Conboy (2013, p. 149) underlines,
“[a]n assessment of journalism and technology needs insight from both the
practice of journalism as well as well as a general awareness of broader
cultural trends and how technology forms part of social history”. So, the
technological adoption and implications should be viewed in the prism of
social and institutional matrixes.

8.3.15 Cultural Contexts in Data Journalism and Artificial

Intelligence
Asim Tewary who deals with the data science claims,

“It is not your data or my data; it is the firm’s data, and the
value you create for the business is from that data. It is a
transformation. It’s changing the people culture aspect, so
 there’s a lot of education. You know, you have to be an
evangelist. You wear multiple hats to show people the
value.”

(O'Brien, 2018)

Creating the change or shift in the use of artificial intelligence for

computational journalism remains a challenge, even though such type of
journalism is effective in storytelling to the audience.
Cultural challenge remains a potential hurdle to use AI in transforming
existing newsrooms into AI-driven newsrooms. Digital cultural divide has
been the new subobstacle which prevents journalists from employing AI
tools in their data stories to the audience.
There is a definite connection between the culture and technology. A study
finds that culture poses a potential hindrance for the acceptance of changes in
the newsroom. The professional culture backed by the traditional method of
newsroom management also remains an obstacle for the acceptance of
technology in the newsroom. An innovative learning culture is required to
understand and apply any form of technology. In this context, it is imperative
to deliberate on innovative learning culture (ILC), one of the effective ways
for understanding and applying technologies in human’s daily lives. ILC can
be referred as,

“a social climate that stimulates people to work and learn

together, to grow as an individual and as a group (team,
organization), and that provides people with the autonomy
needed to be flexible, to experiment, to be creative, and to
investigate radical possibilities in order for the organization
to have better chances for survival in the long run. This is
facilitated by serving leadership, open communication,
mutual trust, a supporting culture, shared goals, appreciation
of individual achievement, and training and development.”

(Porcu, 2020, p. 1559)

ILC can be attained by bringing the professional learning culture (PLC) and
explorative innovation culture.
Suffice to say, innovative learning culture is an amalgamation of
explorative innovation culture and explorative innovation culture. Since the
adoption and application of AI tools in newsrooms is involved with some
kind of technologies, innovative learning culture can be contextualized in
newsrooms. Out of all characteristics of innovative learning culture features
like learning from each other, (re)search/investigation are experimental
seems to be amply apparent. The other features like autonomous, creative,
radical and flexible do not exist which is not making the AI tools to be
effective in newsrooms in several parts of the globe. Indeed, the case is
somewhat discouraging in newsrooms in developing nations. Similarly, out
of the basic essential conditions to make the innovative learning culture of AI
in newsrooms; the climate of leadership, communication, mutual trust,
supporting culture, shared goals and appreciation there in newsrooms.
However, training and development are largely missing when the use of AI
tools in newsrooms is debated. The ecology of newsroom management in
developing nations is different than that of developed nations. The media
outlets are derailing the process of learning as they are not resorting to the
aspect of training and development. The support from the management is a
huge factor in developed nations as compared to developing nations.
Creativity is lagging behind when it comes to the application of AI and
machine learning. Overall, an innovative learning culture in newsroom is
slow-paced. However, it is taking off and AI tools are expected for the
adoption among the newspersons across the globe. Suffice to say, the
inadequacy of innovative learning culture has exposed various factors which
obstruct the process and pace of applying AI techniques in newsrooms.
Rote learning is another method of learning and applying the new skills.
This is a method which highlights about memorization technique based on
repetition. This type of modus operandi of learning is widely prevalent in
countries like Malaysia, India, Japan and Italy (Mulnix, 2012). Traditional
didactic pedagogy and rote-learning are not beneficial when it comes to the
use and adoption of AI tools in newsrooms. Since this form of learning is not
associative learning and active learning, applications and adoption of AI
tools are predicted to be ineffective in newsrooms. The ecology of
newsroom management needs to be supportive for associative learning and
active form of learning which can accelerate the production, distribution and
consumption of news. Learning should be in such a way that technology can
holistically deliberate with newspersons, creating a judicious space for men
and machines in the newsrooms.
The use of technology is influenced by umpteen factors. The technology
acceptance model (TAM) states how and when people tend to use and accept
a technology. The perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use have been
the influential factors on the level of adoption (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw,
1989). The use of TAM has been in various fields which include hospital
industry (Lew, Tan, Loh, Hew, & Ooi, 2020), health and fitness apps (Cho,
Chi, & Chiu, 2020), e-learning (Sukendro et al., 2020), mobile library
applications (Rafique, Almagrabi, Shamim, Anwar, & Bashir, 2020) and
smart farming (Ronaghi & Forouharfar, 2020). However, in terms of
newsroom management and areas in journalism, the studies on technological
adoption remain scarce. Some of the studies include robot journalism (Kim
& Kim, 2021), digital news photo alteration (Yao, Perlmutter, & Liu, 2017)
and journalism based on algorithms (Zheng, Zhong, & Yang, 2018). Since
there are a few studies conducted in the light of use and acceptance of AI in
newsrooms from the perspectives of technological adoption, quantitative and
qualitative studies can be intensified in this direction. To seek and attain the
state of innovative learning culture, newsroom transformation and
professional ideology, it is believed that AI tools can do wonders. Certain
efforts need to be initiated to foster the interest among journalists from
cultural dimensions so that newsrooms will undergo changes with the usages
of AI tools in the space of data journalism.

8.3.16 Gender Dimensions to Data Journalism and Artificial

Intelligence
Figl (2017) reveals that the team comprising gender-diverse data for data
journalism remains a challenge. The gender disparity is reasonably apparent
in German-speaking countries. However, study finds that the use of
computer-assisted journalism among women journalists has been used for
quite some years in the UK and the US. Fundamentally, data journalism is
being imparted. There have been fewer women journalists in the space of
data journalism. Kira Schacht quotes,
 “At Journo code, we do have slightly more women than
men, but that was never on purpose. However, we embrace
diversity in all fields and hope that the next generation will
bring more women into journalism and the tech scene”.

(Figl, 2017)

With the advent of artificial intelligence, the space of women using machine
learning for data journalism has raised intersectional perspectives. The
deliberations on minority and gendered positions are much needed.
The American Society of News Editors claims that the Hispanic, black
and Asian women constitute only five percent of the total newsroom
personnel in the print and online news outlets (Abbady, 2017). Studies find
that one in top 25 newspapers publishing internationally is run and led by
women. Men contribute a whopping 73 percent of the top global management
media jobs. Women journalists earn comparatively lesser than their male
counterparts. Gender disparity is more glaring in legacy platforms (Griffin,
2014). Adding to this, a study finds that only 14% of top editorial decision-
makers are women (Byerly, 2011). As women tend to quit the field of
journalism, fewer women journalists are able to climb up the leadership
roles. One study reveals that the presence of black women is only 2.5 percent
in the entire journalism journalist workforce in the US (York, 2017). Unlike
other professions, the industry of media and communication is not conducive
in supporting and elevating women professionals. This is a state of double
discrimination occurring toward women journalists. Women journalists
suffer more in digital platforms as there is a lack of proper established
hierarchy and culture as compared to traditional newsrooms. Traditional
newsrooms are organized to some extent and offer mobility for women and
minorities. Digital newsrooms need to rethink this aspect in order to amplify
the impact of AI tools in newsrooms, keeping women journalists in mind.
The space of women journalists in the top editorial positions differs from
a nation to nation. There are rarely women journalists who are at the top of
media outlets. 47% of the top journalists are women in the South African
media organizations (Andı, Selva, & Nielsen, 2020). Gender biasness is one
of the barriers which are unfavorable for inclusive media platforms for
voicing for the marginalized in India (Thomas, 2018). The fraction of male–
female writers and anchors in Indian media is skewed. Women journalists
are given the soft beats including lifestyle or fashion whereas men journalists
are assigned to cover the hard beat like politics and economy. A research
report from Media Rumble and UN Women states, “By thus marginalizing
women’s voices and perspectives, the Indian media essentially denies nearly
a half of the population a chance to influence public opinion. This runs
counter to the principles of fairness, equality, and democracy” (Mantri,
2019). Women journalists tend to be victimized because of manipulative
factors. Manipulations of women journalists’ and weak bodies’ intellects are
the striking reasons behind their lower positions in media organizations.
Feminization of spaces in media outlets is scarce. Women journalists speak
soft and are more subdued than their male counterparts (Krüger, 2019). It is
quite apparent that top editorial positions are substantially and symbolically
influenced.
It is found that news produced and disseminated is indifferent from the
agenda of gender. In this context, Allan (1998, p. 133) claims,

“the means by which “hard” news is accorded an enhanced

“prestige” status over the “lighter” items of “soft” news are
linked, in part, to its greater reliance on monologic
renderings of … news events. This perspective is also
discernible in the attendant presumption that women’s
everyday lives [are] intrinsically less “newsworthy” as a
result.”

Monitoring the media remains a significant effort as it throws light on the

understanding of media how it is being represented and what is being
represented. It paves the way for “act in an informed, well reasoned way”
(Galtung, 1995, p. 104). In a similar way pointing out the contribution of
women in media, Angela McRobbie (2009, p. 2) states,

“women constitute half of the world’s population and their

subordination and experience of inequality, though changed,
 remains unequivocal and substantial. The idea of a global,
though highly differentiated feminist politics would indeed
be a considerable challenge to the current global and still
patriarchal system of economic power and domination.”

In reality, journalism is a male-dominated profession which perpetuates the

male perspectives of journalism. However, the increasing presence of
women journalists has started challenging the masculine culture in the
newsrooms. Nevertheless, the public has downplayed and developed the
mistrust on the news production process by the female journalists. It is a
known fact the overpresence of male journalists in the newsrooms has
created a masculine culture of values (Carter, Branston, & Allan, 1999). This
has further diluted the participation of women journalists in the production
process of media contents. News to be judged on the parameters of news
values, not on the masculine culture should be the way forward.
The academic explorations on the presence and impact of women
journalist in the newsrooms and society have provided numerous
perspectives. Certain studies have been conducted in quantitative, qualitative
and mix-method approaches. Certain investigations are purely in the
discipline of media and communication whereas some are interdisciplinary
in nature. On gender and journalism, some of the noteworthy studies which
include women journalists and the news agenda (Craft & Wanta, 2004),
women representation in media (D’Heer, Vergotte, De Vuyst, & Van Leuven,
2020), masculine news values (Ross & Carter, 2011), women in journalism
profession (Mangun, 2011), women in TV newsrooms (Kanagasabai, 2016),
gender equality in journalism (De Vuyst & Raeymaeckers, 2020),
engendering journalist practice (Ross, 2001), feminization process of
journalism (Finneman & Volz, 2020; Lachover & Lemish, 2018), female
journalists’ experiences in newsrooms (Luqiu, 2022), news agendas and
public discourse (Rodny-Gumede, 2015), conditions of women journalists
(Steiner, 1998), women and political reporting (Pain, 2017), women
journalists and the minority syndrome (Meyers & Gayle, 2015) and
journalism and feminist standpoint epistemology (Steiner, 2018). There have
been ample number of studies on gender and journalism across the world in
quantitative and qualitative approach. Several studies are cross-sectional
and longitudinal in nature. However, so far there is not a single study
conducted on gender and application of AI tools in newsrooms. Again, the
research on the use of AI tools among women journalists for telling data
stories to the audience is glaringly missing.
First of all, the presence of women journalists in newsrooms worldwide
is quite negligible which raises the issues of gender disparity in the
profession. Feminization of spaces in media outlets pertaining to AI
applications remains non-existent. It has been found that women journalists
tend to negotiate their spaces in the newsrooms in terms of power and public
discourse. The division of labor in newsrooms between men journalists and
women journalists are skewed, raising the all-time concerns of dichotomy in
the journalistic culture and practice. If women journalists perceive that true
womanhood qualities are purity, piety, domesticity and submissiveness, they
may not excel in the field of journalism. True womanhood cannot be judged
and validated in any professional spirit. True womanhood has nothing to do
with journalism in general, data journalism in particular. Since again data
journalism is an innovative way of practicing journalism, women with
proactiveness can excel in the field. Moreover, bringing AI applications into
the discussion, the career trajectory of women journalists for data journalism
cannot take off if they are not open to operate. Women journalists need to
work with the sense of professional freedom which further fuels their
experiments with AI for data stories.
The qualities of purity, piety, domesticity and submissiveness have no
professional bearings on applying AI tools in the newsrooms. If women
journalists’ contributions for socio-economic and cultural spheres are
undermined, the values for gender parity in the journalistic profession will
go haywire. The macho culture in the newsrooms will continue and news
values from masculine perspective will persist which is unethical and
subject to professional marginalization. If this syndrome prolongs, women’s
global marginalization will emerge, raising concerns across the newsrooms
in the world.
The use of AI tools among women journalists for data journalism in the
newsrooms can be monitored. Monitoring of media remains a pivotal
exercise which highlights the nuance of representation which might “act in an
informed, well reasoned way” (Galtung, 1995, p. 104). If women journalists
are not allowed to voice their opinion, employ their skills and expertise,
such situations will curtail the democratic values in a society (Ross &
Carter, 2011). Moreover, if women journalists are not free enough in
newsrooms, they may not exploit the power of AI tools in enhancing the
quality of data journalism. As a result, women journalists’ labor and skills
will be gendered and sexualized for media consumption in the public.
Further, the larger concerns are pertinent to the journalistic norms,
negotiating femininity and sexuality and victimization of women. The
journalistic code of conduct and appropriate modus operandi, fair femininity
and judicious space and position for women journalists should be
deliberated and the issues can be amicably addressed. Top editorial
positions in major news outlets should no longer substantially and
symbolically matter.
Inclusive journalism, covering the aspect of gender needs to be deeply
deliberated to raise abundant perspectives. Whether women journalists get
the job of data journalism or whether women journalists’ role is engendered
demand discussions across the newsrooms in the world. If women journalists
are excluded from data journalism driven by AI applications, it will only
create pernicious in journalism and gender disparity in the profession will
persist for indefinite period. In this context, UNESCO (2017) argues,

“There are only two kinds of journalism – good and bad.

Good journalism involves fair and accurate representation
and a search for diversity and balanced reporting in subject
matter, perspectives and points of view … Women constitute
half of the world population [yet] still do not constitute half
of the media images and voices, nor media messages address
half of women’s interests and concerns.”

8.3.17 Data Journalism, artificial intelligence and Constant

Learning for Applications
Journalism is a dynamic profession which requires and demands the media
organizations to test and apply newer ideas and technologies in the
newsrooms. Most importantly, with the surge of data, sensors and
technological upgradations, formats of news reporting are experiencing
newness across the globe. Moreover, AI tools are providing tailormade
solutions for practicing data journalism despite their relative novelty and
complexity (de-Lima-Santos & Salaverría, 2021). ChatGPT, a new AI tool
which has started influencing the journalistic process. The applications of
ChatGPT are arguably enhance the skills of journalists for news stories in
general and data stories in particular. Precisely, using AI tools in the space of
data journalism has just started and each day is becoming a learning day for
the journalists working in the newsrooms. Learning curve will shape up the
future course of applications in connecting to the news consumers.

8.3.18 Data Journalism, Artificial Intelligence and Redefining

Beat Reporting
Since data journalism is backed by data and remains credible among the
audience, it has taken the height of beat reporting to a newer level. The use of
data is not confined to business journalism and developmental journalism.
Data stories are slowing increasing in the field of business, crime,
investigative and other forms of journalism. Since the data are factual, data
stories of various beats have gained the trust of news consumers and this is
going to happen in a deeper level. With the advent of AI tools, investigative
journalism is undergoing numerous shifts in terms of data stories to the
audience (Sengul-Jones, 2021). Empowered with AI tools, investigative
journalists are able to pilot extraordinary analysis techniques which further
make the private companies and government entities accountable.
News media organizations have started using automation in newsrooms.
The audience expects their news to be delivered to them in real-time because
we live in an era of instant gratification. News disseminates more quickly
than ever thanks to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The
need for accurate and high-quality reporting does, however, increase with the
speed at which news is delivered. This is where ChatGPT comes in as a tool
to enhance the capability of newsrooms and journalism. This AI tool enables
journalists in all sorts of beating in journalism. Be it political, economic,
crime, business, entertainment or sports. ChatGPT helps journalists in
covering various events. This AI tool facilitates quick and effective fact-
checking and research for journalists. From locating pertinent sources and
articles to giving background knowledge on a particular subject, the chatbot
can perform an ample amount of works. For journalists, using ChatGPT is
changing the game because it gives them a tool that can make their jobs
easier. Journalists can concentrate on the more crucial elements of their
reporting, like speaking with sources and producing articles, by using
ChatGPT. This AI tool can also assist journalists in coming up with fresh
ideas or viewpoints on a story that they may not have previously considered.

8.3.19 Data Journalism, Artificial Intelligence and Hope for

Newer Possibilities
Some of the newsrooms world over have given the scope to create a new
department within the ecology of production and distribution of news. The
creation of new department comprising data scientists, data engineers, data
analysts (EBU, 2021) has opened up news possibilities for the journalists
who are ceaselessly attempting to execute the data in the format of data
stories. This new department which is equipped to deal with AI tools in the
newsroom is slowly getting formed. Time will say how the journalists will
decode the power of AI to shape up data stories for the audience. With the
advent of metaverse and ChatGPT, the use of AI tools for telling data stories
might undergo substantial shifts in the ecology of news media. The newsroom
has become more technologically complex in the digital era. Today’s
journalists create a variety of content using a variety of tools for a variety of
delivery platforms. ChatGPT has provided new hopes and media attention
has been drawn to this AI tool. Given its features, one would assume that
journalists would be eager to use it, if only as a tool for story writing.
ChatGPT could perform the labor-intensive work of their desktop research,
generating ideas for stories and perhaps even aiding in the first draft of their
works.

8.4 Concluding Remarks

Journalism is a field that keeps on changing in terms of incorporation of
newer technologies like metaverse, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), immersive
technologies along with artificial intelligence. Computer-generated imagery
is in the experiment stage. Metaverse-powered storytelling is expected to
enhance subscribers and revenue models for the newsrooms. ChatGPT, an AI
tool, is the latest addition to the list of technologies being used by journalists.
The AI-based chatbot can make news easier to understand, but nothing can
replace having eyes and ears on the ground. To make user prompts ChatGPT
friendly, formatting changes are frequently necessary. As a result, the
response is more beneficial and simpler to use in the process of journalistic
production. More newsrooms are attempting to experiment newer
communication technologies in the newsrooms. Which technology will click,
that the time will tell. However, the experimentations need to continue on
regular intervals.
Suffice to say, data journalism is doing well in newsrooms in developed
countries whereas it is taking off in various developing countries. This type
of journalism has a proven track record in reporting socioeconomic, national
and international events in the form of data stories. There is no doubt that
data journalism is not confined to computer-assisted reporting. Its scopes are
much beyond this. To make data journalism more improved and alive,
multidisciplinary approach and professional methodologies are highly
sought. However, such forms of journalism driven by numerical and
computer have invited ethical concerns which need to be acknowledged and
amicably addressed on a priority basis.
Christian Pentzold and Denise Fechner (2020) reveal that since data
journalism is enhancing the importance of aggregate digital information and
place accurate projections of news stories, it is getting wider acceptance and
its future looks promising. Despite the constraints in the process of data
journalism, the future seems promising as several establishments,
governments and civil society are showing interest in it (Kalatzi et al., 2018).
Computation can make the journalism to quickly “produce transparent,
credible and exclusive narratives that can have enormous social and political
impact” (Graham, 2017). AI can be instrumental in taking data journalism to
the next level. As Gray, Bounegru and Chambers (2012) have rightly
enunciated,

“Information asymmetry—not the lack of information, but

the inability to take in and process it with the speed and
volume that it comes to us—is one of the most significant
problems that citizens face in making choices about how to
 live their lives. Information taken in from print, visual and
audio media influence citizen’s choices and actions. Good
data journalism helps to combat information asymmetry.”

AI-driven data journalism will provide the audience with multi-layered,

multiplatform, gamified, database-linked dynamic and interactive content.
With the arrival of newer technological platforms like metaverse along with
AI tools will have greater influence on data journalism in the future.
However, the content will remain the king for the newspersons and the
audience as well. To have useful and relevant content, human intervention in
the newsrooms is of utmost importance. Needless to say, in computational
journalism run by AI tools suffers from certain amount of errors. Distrust
will be there. However, the applications of AI tools in newsrooms across the
globe are on the rise. Newsrooms across the globe cannot deny the fact.
Since studies have found that data journalism is doing well in telling news
stories in small newsrooms (Figl, 2017), the future of AI is believed to be
effective there also. For the adoption of AI does not depend on the size. Data
journalism is working well in small newsrooms in Germany, Austria and the
UK, a study revealed. In addition, Kayser-Bril asserts,

“You have plenty of very small newsrooms that do data

journalism (…) LeT_el_egramme (…) Heilbronner Stimme
(…) we are basically talking about one person or half a full-
time position, and I think any smallish newsroom can afford
[this] (…) If you look at the investments that are required to
do data journalism, it’s basically zero because everything is
open source and free. So, I don’t see any theoretical
argument that would be a resource limitation to data
journalism.”

(Stalph & Borges-Rey, 2018)

In this context, AI tools-driven journalism can do wonders in newsrooms

irrespective small or big. Let’s wait and watch how AI tools are doing in the
field of data journalism and how newsroom ecology is getting transformed in
the future.

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9 Artificial Intelligence in Fostering
Citizen Journalism

Investigating the New Form of

Participatory Journalism
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-9

9.1 Introduction
The discussion on the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the
domain of citizen journalism remains complex and draws an ample amount of
curiosities on citizenship, journalism, citizen journalism, technology and AI
in an isolated manner and a combined compartment also. Since journalism,
citizen journalism, technology and AI undergo ceaseless changes, the
transformative effects on each of the above entities are difficult to measure
and it often goes unnoticed. Therefore, understanding these concepts in
changing times is warranted, especially in the light of assessing the
implications of AI on citizen journalism.
Heater (2004, p. 187) affirms that citizenship “is more than a label”, in
which ideas of “identity and virtue invest the concept of citizenship with
power”. Blaagaard (2013) argues that the debates hover around the stock of
knowledge on academic literature which is beyond the space of citizen
journalism. Citizen journalism (CJ) has become a prevailing articulation in
the landscape of global news and journalism in which citizens have enhanced
the stakeholdership in terms of creation, distribution and dissemination of
news content along with the citizens’ comments on the news contents.
According to Kaufhold, Valenzuela, and Zúñiga (2010, p. 517)
 “Citizen journalism is defined by a number of attributes
which make it distinct from professional journalism,
including unpaid work, absence of professional training,
and often unedited publication of content, and may feature
plain language, distinct story selection and news judgment,
especially hyperlocal issues, free accessibility, and
interactivity.”

It is apparent that such type of journalism has become instrumental in terms

of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating the news contents to the
citizens. However, citizen journalism is usually termed as contextual. It
works differently for different people in diverse political and cultural setups.
Technological upgradations have the bearings on the origin and growth of
such unique form of journalism.
AI, a form of innovation, remains a buzzword in the field of technologies.
However, its applications are apparent in almost all the professional fields.
The field of journalism is not exception to it. Journalists in the newsrooms
are exploring the implications of AI. AI in journalism is vastly making
inroads in the landscape of breaking news, investigating the facts, curbing
fake news, interactive news and the like. However, since citizen journalism
otherwise known as participatory or collaborative form of journalism is
somewhat different from mainline journalism, the implications of AI on
citizens, participatory nature of journalism and society needs a series of
deliberations.

9.2 Origin, History and Growth of Citizen

Journalism
Tracing, understanding and making conclusive remarks on the origin and
history of citizen journalism remains fussy. A study finds that citizen
journalism commenced globally in the early 2000s when common citizens
started disseminating the news with a mild form of producing the news
contents (Gillmor, 2004). From the late 1990s onwards, the Internet has
enabled the citizens to discover the news and share information. The massive
use of the Internet has intensified the abilities of citizens for the enterprise of
citizen journalism. In this context, Gillmor (2004, p. 24) argues, “We could
all write, not just read, in ways never before possible”. Moreover, with the
rise in new communication technologies in the Westernized nations of the
globe, citizen journalism has paved the way for wider civic participation and
cosmopolitanism. To Allan and Thorsen (2009), historically this form
journalism commenced post 2004–2005 South Asian tsunamis. Locksley
(2009) asserts that the massive digital implications of the 21st century have
modified the modus operandi of mass media i.e., one-way communication
and top-down structure in terms of content production. It has also changed the
socio-cultural patterns of content consumption and has enabled political and
cultural processes in an inclusive and exclusive manner.
A study claims that citizen journalism in Asia is flourishing in the regions
that lack of media plurality. The regions could be particularly termed as
Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in Asia (Zeng, Jain, Nguyen, & Allan,
2019). Citizens in China share information in social media platforms and
tend to question the Chinese media reports. On similar lines, Luo and
Harrison (2019) find that citizens are active on Weibo and are influencing the
policy-makers on various subjects. Darbo and Skjerdal (2019) assert that
even though citizen journalists in China are tagged as nonprofessionals,
platforms like WeChat have created a space for effective participatory
journalism in China. Wu and Wall (2019) add that mobile phones have
fostered the space for alternative source of news.
India is a diverse country with multiple sources and patterns of social,
cultural and political ideologies. Video Volunteers, established in the year
2002, attempts to stress on the daily issues of the underprivileged groups
who remain ignored by the mainline media outlets (Video Volunteers, 2019).
Meri News (My News) established in the year 2006 has become a popular
platform for citizen journalism in India (Allan, Sonwalkar, & Carter, 2007).
CGNet Swara, founded by a former BBC journalist Shubhranshu Choudhary,
is a mobile phone-based platform which has fostered and sustained the voice
of the voiceless among the tribal communities in central India since the year
2010. This people’s voice has become instrumental in raising the issue of
corruption, human rights, bureaucratic hassles and social justice (Chadha &
Steiner, 2015).
 The story of citizen journalism has a different story in different countries.
Citizen journalism in India has set the stage for sousveillance in which the
ordinary people are the citizens who are monitoring the activities of the
government or top bureaucrats through the process of engagements (Zeng et
al., 2019). It can be rightly called as the citizens’ documentation which is the
contrast to powerful surveillance of citizens by the governmental or ruling
apparatus. The powerful surveillance of citizens over the ruling apparatus
could be on corruption, misrule or any sort of administrative blight. Most
importantly, several studies revealed that citizen journalists in India have
exhibited a sense of a strong public service orientation by highlighting human
rights violations to resolve civic-related problems (Paul, 2015).
The citizens in the African continent have been successfully engaged with
citizen journalism. For an instance, the half percent of Zimbabwe’s
population have access to the Internet (Internet World Stats, 2020). Further,
another study finds that the reason behind the rise of citizen journalism in
Zimbabwe is not because of political narratives only. Opposing the
hegemonic news frames has become quite apparent (Tshabangu, 2019). The
journalism led by the citizens in Zimbabwe is able to counter the mode of
news dissemination in the authoritarian climates (Sheen, Tung, & Wu, 2020).
A study finds that the venture of journalism led by citizens has been
successful in Southeast Asia (Zeng et al., 2019). There is no denial that
citizen journalists have met certain success in Southeast Asia. This nature of
journalism is in good form in Indonesia in which radio, blogs and social
networks have been instrumental for creating and disseminating alternative
narratives. Lack of journalistic pluralism in Indonesia has paved the way for
citizen journalism.
Moving ahead, established in the year 2008, Malaysiakini, one citizen
journalism initiative has trained hundreds of aspiring citizen journalists and
revolutionized the independent journalistic spirit. It has influenced the
mainstream political discourse in which the independent journalistic spirit is
often missed out in the mainstream media narratives. Similarly, it is doing
well in Vietnam. Since huge amount of people are present in social
networking sites, it has enabled the citizens to be part of interactive dialogue
and discourses on ordinary citizens’ issues and daily struggles. Situations
like nonprofit blogs, crowd-funded investigative and citizen-reporters of the
‘Arab Spring’ have brought the alternative media to the fore and positioned
as a democratized alternative of the mainstream media which is funded and
managed the corporate (Carpenter, Nah, & Chung, 2015).
Whenever there is a debate on the types of citizen journalism, there is no
such definite division. However, a study argues that there could be two types
of citizen journalism – institutional and non-institutional (Banda, 2010).
Institutional citizen journalism is guided and driven by organizational
structure and its philosophy. The guiding principles of an organization
motivate and drive such journalistic initiatives. Even though an organization
is the core to the journalistic functions, the individual enterprise of
envisioning and executing citizen journalism – production, distribution and
consumption of news contents – remains pivotal. On the other hand, non-
institutional journalism centers on individuals at the core of practicing
journalism. The presence of such type of journalism is there among the
citizens who tend to use a combination of platforms which are further
instrumental in producing, distributing and consuming the news contents.
Such initiatives are individualistic in nature. Usually, it gets to thrive in a
situation of volunteerism, without being driven by any professional
institutions or guided by professional spirits. It is highly individualized and
subjected to self-regulation. It so happens that sometimes citizen journalists
from noninstitutionalized philosophy are parts of an online group or several
online groups which intensify debates on single or numerous topics.
According to a study, citizen journalism started and flourished in a given
point of time. However, later they started chasing the audience and
advertising which further led to tough competitions among the citizen
journalism platforms. As a result, certain platforms perished after registering
audience participation and growth (Lindner & Larson, 2017). Several
perspectives remain paradoxical on the origin, mission, growth and types of
citizen journalism which usually prioritize the coverage pertaining to the
interests of the communities.

9.3 Space of Technology in Journalism and Citizen

Journalism
The use of technology in journalism is not new. Over the years, it has greatly
influenced this professional field – reporting, writing, editing, distribution
and consumption of news contents. It is a known fact that in the form of
various technologies, Gutenberg’s printing press, newspapers, radio,
television, Internet and smartphone have brought revolutions in the field of
media and communication in general, and journalism in particular. Moreover,
technologies have fast-paced this profession, influencing the sociocultural
and business dimensions.
A study by Pavlik (2000) argues that the changing patterns of technology
do influence the patterns and modus operandi of journalism. Broadly it
includes – working style of journalists, nature of news contents, structure and
function of newsrooms and relationship among the journalists, news
organizations and the public. Internet has brought sea changes in the field of
journalism and transformative impact on journalism is counting on. With the
rise in computation equipment, big data have encroached into every aspect of
life, including the field of journalism. The access to the data has enabled
journalists to make data stories from varied perspectives. Tools like
Checkdesk, Logikcull, Google Media Tools, Storify, Citizen Desk and
Twitter Counter have proved to be a boon for journalists. Checkdesk
enables the journalists to check the false information. Even citizen journalists
can exploit this tool for their journalistic endeavors. They can upload their
visual contents – photos and videos – in Checkdesk for further verifications.
Once these are verified and cleared, these contents can be used in the
newsrooms to make news stories for dissemination to the audience. Since
journalists encounter multipage documents which might be difficult to
comprehend quickly, Logikcull is the solution. In this situation, Logikcull
facilitates journalists to upload and organize ample number of documents for
quick manageability. Google Media tool makes journalists at ease to gather
and report the news stories. The advanced search functions and analytics
enable the journalists to learn and understand the issues that people are
discussing and the issues need to be reported.
Since these days content in social media is important, Storify is an asset
to journalists. This tool attempts to accumulate various social media sites in
one place. It helps journalists to search the contents required for making
news stories. This tool enables journalists in creating their news contents via
an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. Also, news-oriented group of
journalists can collaborate, research and create a place in this platform. The
Internet has provided the opportunity for the people to disseminate
information. However, the information must be validated before posting to
the public. Citizen Desk provides the functions for the citizen journalists to
create the network of sources and communication is mobilized directly
through the app. Twitter as a platform provides information to journalists to
break the stories. By employing the tool Twitter Counter, journalists can
track the current happenings. Moreover, this tool is helpful for journalists in
comparing multiple tweets, understanding the suitable time for tweeting, and
exploring the users who interact with your tweets or news contents the most.
All these tools have major implications on newsroom management.
Globally, newsrooms are emphasizing more on specialism (LSE, 2021).
The focus on data and visual storytelling is on the rise. For these more
technological inputs are getting utilized. For instance, The Washington Post’s
news on coronavirus was drawing huge attention. Data journalism is the top
priority with changing patterns and narratives. Technologies have propelled
the newsrooms to find new pathways to explore and discuss the news.
Technologies have also enabled citizens to tell their stories in social media
platforms which are free flow in terms of disseminating information.
Technologies have restrategized the newsrooms for people’s engagement,
especially in the times of Covid-19. Emails and podcasts are restrategized to
build up the engagements with the people. Email is propelling the spirit of
entrepreneurial journalism. Substack, TinyLetter, Lede, Ghost and other
similar platforms are doing well in the time of uncertainties. For instance,
Substack is a digital platform which offers the inputs related to publishing,
payment, analytics, and design to maintain the subscription. This digital
platform is being used the journalists, experts and giant media sites.
TinyLetter is a digital platform which is used to send out updates, digests
and dispatches to one’s friends. Simplicity is the bedrock of this platform in
which there are not enough business features. It can be termed as a
customized medium which is primarily used for email marketing services.
TinyLetter equips with basic analytics that cover subscriber counts, open
rates, and click-through rates.
Going beyond, with help from the AI chatbot tool, BBC attempts to
answers the questions on the crisis of coronavirus. The South China
Morning Post is resorting to AI inputs to find out the look-alike audiences
for targeting its news subscribers. Reuters, the news agency is employing
speech-to-text technology to add time-coded transcripts to the archived
videos in 11 languages (Reuters, 2020). Sophi, an AI tool is being used by
The Globe and Mail in Canada on the editorial choices. The amalgamated
functions of combining newer devices and improved connectivity coupled
with powerful technology have pushed the field of journalism to the next
level (Newman, 2021). At the same time, the field is facing numerous
challenges, especially in the crisis like Covid-19. Journalism as a business
enterprise needs to be revamped for the sake of transformations ultimately
required for effectiveness of media contents. The pandemic has shown the
way for digital culture which further needs to be changed and rechanged in
course of time, need and demand.
Globally, the emergence of distributed newsrooms has taken advantages
of collaborative online tools which have further enhanced the skills and
output of journalists in the field and newsrooms. To engage with the
audiences in the changing environment, newsrooms need to be proactive,
especially in digital platforms. As audiences are volatile and tend to migrate
from one platform to another for the consumption of media contents, there has
been accumulated pressure on media houses and again the expectations of
audience have exponentially increased and counting.
In this context, Beckett (2020) argues that currently new media houses are
undergoing constant shifts. First online media emerged and later social media
ruled the media industries. Now, journalism is getting more distributed and
diverse in terms of how the audiences get their required information. AI and
machine learning technology are going to be the core of the ecosystem of
journalism. journalism in this ever-changing digital era attempts to build a
new way to deliver information. It attempts to connect, engage and fosters
interactive modes for its viewers. Audiences are able to raise multiple
perspectives through postings or comments. Multimedia journalism is making
inroads. News media houses are constantly tapping the power of social
media. Each time a new discourse evolves which is eventually becoming a
thing of the past. The nature of engagement with the audience is getting
defined and redefined. Change is the only constant thing here.
Kramp and Loosen (2018) find that digital technologies have transformed
the newsroom culture in terms of dialogue, moderation and curation of news
contents. However, the revolution of the journalism–audience relationship
remains a complex area. At the same time, the use of technologies has
created a sense of chaos in the field of professional journalism. The spirit of
ethical and moral journalism is getting diluted. Talwar, Dhir, Singh, Virk, and
Salo (2020) confirm that authenticating news before sharing is not always
getting managed as there is a lack of time and cross-verifying the facts. The
digital technologies have influenced activities on the social platforms and the
spread of misinformation and disinformation is getting rampant. The spurt in
computational propaganda is being witnessed with undesirable outcomes.
With the disruption in traditional advertising, the traditional business model
for news production and distribution has been adversely affected with mass
unemployment. It has enhanced the pressure of deadline as the content-
commissioning, production, distribution and consumption of news contents
are increasingly prioritized.
Precisely, clickbait practices are getting rampant which is ultimately
eroding the trust and credibility in professional journalism. Resorting to
virality is at the cost of quality and accuracy. This is not a professional
benchmark in which ethical standards are grossly missing. The uses of
multiple technologies have further worsened the quality and accuracy which
are the hallmarks of standard journalism. In a bid to minimize the level of
misinformation, crackdowns are being carried out, which leads to internet
shutdowns, the blocking of platforms, and censorship. As a result,
technologies are indirectly held responsible for undermining and curtailing
the press freedom and freedom of expression rights. Some argue that
communication scholars and practitioners, community media is more
powerful than technology-based mass media. Direct communication is more
relevant and matters more than technology-driven interactive communication.
Personal relationship with the audience is much more important for effective
communication. In addition, technology-based journalism has spilled the
beans of information inequalities and public information is at the skewed end
which needs to be politically corrected at the earliest possible.
Citizen journalism has received massive boost with the proliferation of
Internet usages. There has been a rise of user-generated content (UGC)
because of proliferation of users of the Internet. Internet, mobile technology,
YouTube and AI have influenced the level of citizen journalism worldwide.
According to Statista, globally there are 4.66 billion internet users, 4.32
mobile internet users, 4.2 social media users and 4.15 billion mobile social
media users. There are above 3.6 billion people who are involved in social
media globally. This number of users is predicted to touch the mark of 4.41
billion in 2025 (Statista, 2021a).
Facebook remains the most used social media platform across the globe.
As of January 2021, there are 320 million, 190 million and 140 million users
of Facebook in India, United States and Indonesia respectively. There are
about 2740 million total users of this platform (Statista, 2021b). Therefore,
there are ample scopes in which citizens can produce user-generated content
which can potentially fuel citizen journalism. YouTube is the second largest
social media platform in which total users of 2291 million users are engaged
worldwide. As per the data recorded by January 2021, Israel, the
Netherlands and United Arab Emirates have users of 92.7%, 92.5% and
92.1%, respectively, of YouTube penetration. Similarly, WhatsApp is the
third largest social media platform worldwide in which the totals of 2000
million users are engaged in various forms of communication. As of January
2021, the total of number of WhatsApp users in India, Brazil and the United
States are around 390.1 million, 108.4 million, 75.1 million (Dean, 2021).
India is the largest democratic country in the world. WhatsApp, as part of
citizen journalism, is being used for socioeconomic and political
participation in the country. From social activists to politicians, all make
attempts to engage the citizens through this digital platform. However, this
medium is also grossly used for propaganda. WhatsApp is often used as a
platform for news consumption in Brazil. It is used as a tool for business,
customer service and community. Moreover, communities are taking up this
digital platform as a means of citizen journalism to articulate for varied
purposes.
There are massive users of social media and the scope of user-generated
content is significantly increasing with each passing day. Mobile messenger
apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Weixin/WeChat, QQ, Snapchat and
Telegram have been immensely contributing to the rise of user-generated
content . Such form of content is the backbone of citizen-driven form of
reporting. As of January 2021, in all global mobile messenger apps, there are
2000 million, 1300 million, 1223 million, 617 million, 500 million and 498
million users in WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, Weixin/WeChat, QQ,
Telegram and Snapchat respectively. Since its launch in 2009, WhatsApp has
offered users an alternative to SMS and text messages. This digital platform
is available in above 180 countries the world over.
 In the year 2021, there were 400 million users of WhatsApp in India, the
largest users of this app worldwide. There are 147 million WhatsApp users
in Brazil in the year 2021. Brazil is the second-largest user of WhatsApp
worldwide. There are 78.6 WhatsApp million users in the United States in
2021 and is predicted to touch the mark of 85.8 million users in the year
2023 (Statista, 2021c). So far, the United States is the third largest user of
WhatsApp worldwide. Since the users of WhatsApp are significantly rising
worldwide, it has the potential to mobilize citizen journalism. Moreover, in
countries like India and the United States, citizen journalism is going to
witness newer explorations and perspectives with the massive usages of
WhatsApp.
Started in 2004, Facebook messenger is an accepted social media
platform on mobile apps. It is the second largest Mobile messenger app
among social media platforms worldwide after WhatsApp. It is one of the
fastest-growing social media platforms, giving rise to user-generated content.
Since citizens are resorting to this digital platform, the amount of user-
generated content is on the rise. So far as citizen journalism is concerned,
ordinary citizens to human rights activists are on this social media, covering
topics of gender, environment, education, business and other allied subjects.
Developed in 2011, Weixin/WeChat facilitates multipurpose messaging,
social media and also provides the facility of mobile payment app. WeChat
is the largest social media used by the citizens in China. Its users have
increased from 633 million in 2020 to 674.2 million in 2021 (Statista,
2021c). It is the third largest social media platform among all mobile
messenger apps. Since it has growing number of users, it has the potential to
generate huge gamut of user-generated content which is the lifeline of citizen
journalism.
Overall, it is understood that technologies have immensely contributed to
the growth of citizen journalism. With the advent of various technologies, the
barrier between mainstream news and citizen journalism has been lowered.
However, certain marginalized sections are yet to access the technology for
voicing their issues through citizen journalism. Technologically advanced
citizen journalism is able to create independent media products. In such form
of journalism, the culture of interactive media environment is prioritized.
Citizen journalism driven by mobile technology has created healthy public
sphere for the communities. Mobile technology facilitates democratic
transparency during the time of polls in several countries.
Suffice to say, technology has the transformative role in the journalistic
process. Starting from the printing press to artificial intelligence, each and
every technological tool has influenced journalists and journalistic practice.
AItools can empower the future of journalism. Blockchain,metaverse and
ChatGPT are the latest additions to the digital platforms which are going to
be tested in the prism of journalistic practice. Technology has never been
harmful to any form of journalism, rather providing an array of opportunities
to make journalism better with each passing day. Digital journalism is
moving ahead with a fast pace with the changing implications of the
technologies from time to time. In this context, citizen journalism is not
exception to it. However, the use of technologies should enjoy the status of
relevance and pragmatism.

9.4 Modus Operandi and Functioning of Citizen

Journalism
Citizen journalism is popular among citizens as this form of journalism
enjoys certain functions and its unique way of modus operandi for the
collection, distribution and consumption of news contents. This form of
journalism is participatory in nature and citizens are the core of it (IHS
Markit, 2018). It is based on user-generated content (UGC). It is such a
platform which is navigating journalism for social change and development.
As this form of journalism is public oriented, it fuels the spirit of activism
among the citizens. It can give rise to the germination of social movements
when public start reckoning the importance of this formula of executing
journalism. It also influences the state of public sphere which is the core of
public discourse. News values and sustainability of such form of
participatory journalism deserves judicious deliberations. This unique form
of news gathering and dissemination also provides the uses and gratifications
to the citizens in umpteen forms.

9.4.1 Creating Participatory Form of Journalism

The basic tenet of citizen journalism is that it enjoys the property of
participation. Citizens are duly engaged in dialogues which further foster and
sustain the sense of participatory journalism. This collaborative form of
journalism accommodates all sorts of stakeholders in the process of
production, distribution and consumption of media contents. Citizen
journalists can add something to the precious content in order to further bring
the plurality of discourses. This makes journalism more dissimilar and
equitable and paves the way for democratic discourse. As citizen journalism
is considerably more diverse and focuses on equity and democratic
discourse, it has situated journalistic field for an autonomous pole (Lindner
& Larson, 2017). Since this is collaborative journalism in nature, citizen
journalists tend to provide an alternative agenda to the public agenda over
the agenda from the mainstream journalism. Moreover, its democratic
discourse leads to a more diverse, equitable and rational-critical space
which are required for inclusive development. This democratic approach to
news and journalism calls for radical societal changes in a given period of
time.
So far as the forms of participation are concerned, there are several
arguments. The conversation between skilled journalists and citizen
journalists deserves judicious discussions. The citizen journalists are
otherwise known as audiences or amateur news participants who are the core
in the process of journalistic narratives. Participation that allows for
reciprocity or other types of relational exchange between professional and
amateur news participants has been successful over the years. Taking this
discussion forward, it is an open fact that citizens and participatory
journalism play an important aspect in news media environment.
Participatory journalism is positioned as the highest form of engagement.
Nowadays, news organizations have started looking forward to this form of
engagement or a behavior. Moreover, it is also influencing the narratives on
democratic discourse. Citizen journalism is popularly centered on diverse
democratic discourse. It has resituated the journalistic field for an
autonomous pole because of its very nature of equity and citizen
participation. There is no doubt that artificial intelligence will be going to
mobilize and boost the functions and impact of such form of journalism. The
coverage and implications might be more visible and captive than
mainstream journalism in the prism of public interests. However, since AI-
driven collaborative journalism may not create a conducive and situate
journalism for an autonomous pole. AI-driven journalism may dilute the very
properties of equity and democratic discourse. The properties of equity and
democratic discourse of journalism drives the society for social change and
development. However, AI-mobilized collaborative journalism may not fetch
the autonomous journalistic pole which usually paves the way for
participatory communication and citizen-centric communication.

9.4.2 Creating User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) remains the mainstay of citizen journalism.
Tubman (2018, p. 9) asserts, UGC comprises the

“content from non-news sources such as blogs, forums,

comments sections to social media video and images, in this
paper, UGC will be defined as eyewitness media,
newsworthy images, animated image and audio captured via
smartphone, published via social media by a
nonprofessional journalist and used by a news
organization.”

The excessive penetration of mobile phones and growth of domestic

broadband have immensely brought the environment of UGC for audiences
(Wardle & Williams, 2010). UGC could be in the form of feedback, tips-offs
and eyewitness footage. Now, news has become a collective social
experience as citizens tend to exchange and share the links of information. It
is a known fact that the aim of journalism is to inform society (Harcup,
2022). In a contemporary world, both the journalists and the citizens
involved with UGC need to be aligned for the greater interest of society.
There have been discussions over the increasing use of UGC in
newsrooms. The benefits of UGC are the accessibility to contents, audience
engagements and empowerment and democratization of contents. Such
content has fueled the users’ empowerment and democratization of public
journalism. In the age of fake news and misinformation, it works proficiently
in empowering the citizens and communities. Over the years, UGC has
enabled and enhanced the trust between citizens and journalists for
recalibrating the journalistic process; encouraging diverse sources and
stories; broadening the reach of the newsroom; and reinforcing the reputation
of mainstream media outlets and citizen journalists.
Studies reveal that UGC has the influence on the dissemination of news to
the audience. Broersma and Graham (2013) underline that a tweet, a form of
UGC, is used by journalists in their news articles. The dynamics of social
media and UGC have transformed the nature and culture of breaking news.
Also, social media and UGC have continuously pressurizing the editors what
to prioritize and report for the production, distribution and consumption of
news contents for the audience. Now breaking news is no more the monopoly
of television news channels. These days, journalists with media houses are
heavily relying on views and perspectives of citizens through various social
media platforms. Media houses cannot pay the price of ignoring the public
stand on any given issue.
Democratizing journalism is a major aspect of citizen journalism. UGC
has made inroads in democratizing journalism which further carved out a
niche for inclusive news environment. It has further provided ample amount
of space for smartphones and social media app taking part in the process of
production and distribution of news. This UGC-driven participatory
journalism is horizontal in structure whereas traditional form of newsroom is
adhered to the vertical approach to information distribution and top-down in
nature of functioning. Even though UGC creates value additions to the
production and distribution of news, it needs check and balance. The positive
facets of gatekeeping in the light of using UGC in newsroom gains paramount
importance and deliberations.
News organizations are still engaged in filtering and aggregating UGC for
the valuable dissemination of news contents to its audience. In the context of
maintaining the quality while incorporating UGC, Singer (2010, p. 128)
asserts,

“if there are no gates, there is no need for anyone to tend

them, unless the notion of gatekeeping, and therefore the
value of the role, is reconceptualized as being less about
story selection and more about news judgment, norms and
 practices such as verification to determine the merit of what
is disseminated. In this newsroom-centric view, everyone
can be a publisher, but not everyone can be a journalist.”

Suffice to say, UGC fosters and legitimizes the news contents through
participatory form of journalism. The form of journalism is useful for
communities and sometimes assists the practicing journalists in the
newsroom. Tubman (2018, p. 3) has rightly mentioned,

“while engaging with UGC is treated on a case-by-case basis,

there are common best practices shared amongst experts and
journalists. Ultimately, a newsroom that successfully engages
UGC will build community trust, which in turn could
encourage audience members to share their content.”

There is a requirement to frame certain credible standards to protect social

sources, reputation and trust in the space of journalism.

9.4.3 Bringing Social Change and Development

Participatory communication is essential for social change and development.
However, the spirit and space of such type of communication is usually
scarce in mainstream media outlets. It does not mean that the mainstream
media, which is driven for profit, do not foster social change and
development. However, the pace of such social change and developmental
activities is slow. Therefore, over the years alternative media like citizen
journalism has gained importance for accommodating participatory
communication which is instrumental for social change, empowerment and
development.
Since citizen journalism is community-oriented, it paves the way for
social change and development. Schaffer (2007, p. 2) argues,

“[citizen media] have watchdogged local government,

provided news that couldn’t otherwise be had, nudged local
media to improve, helped their community solve problems,
 even, to a degree, increased voter turnout, and the number
of candidates running for office.”

The benefit of citizen journalism cannot be best tapped in an isolated manner.

CJ tends to add values to the mainstream for the sake of diversity and unique
perspectives (Domingo et al., 2008). Citizen journalists contribute to
mobilizing and shaping up public opinion by creating hyperlocal contents.
The hyperlocal contents tend to connect among the communities (Livingstone
& Markham, 2008). Higher participation among communities results in
deeper engagement with the media and local issues. Even sometimes, CJ
reinforces the mainstream to cover the news stories for the interests of the
civil society.
Certain instances reveal the efficacy of citizen journalism. Citizens were
reached out first to cover and report on the Wenchuan earthquake and
Wenzhou train crash (Shao & Wang, 2017). Citizen journalism for social
change remains an alternative or counter-hegemonic community initiatives.
However, the voice of the marginalized groups through alternative platforms
like citizen journalism is not always felt. The established mainstream media
outlets continue to dominate and misrepresent the voice of the downtrodden
sections of the society. These media organizations do not accommodate the
voice of the classes which have been suffering from socioeconomic and
political inequality. The plurality of voices does not seem to be in lined with
the contents and policies of media organizations. This flaw with the mainline
media outlets remains a blot when discussion on the coverage on the interests
of the poorest of the poor comes to the fore. At the same time, establishing
and nurturing citizen journalism will eventually situate plurality in an
egalitarian frame of news media settings.
It is true that marginalized sections resort to platforms like citizen-driven
journalism to place their physical and discursive struggles in order to
alleviate societal barriers. Marginalized sections can take on the state of
their exclusion in order to make their presence. They are keen to ventilate
their physical and discursive struggles to mitigate the societal barriers.
Breaking the barriers is essential and prerequisite for bringing social change
and development. Citizen journalism attempts to bring inclusive development
in the process of empowering the marginalized groups. Moreover,
community-led journalism intends to create and develop the identity of these
journalists who tend to contest for their space and rights in the domain of
social change, development, participation and empowerment.

9.4.4 Intensifying Activism and Social Movements

Citizen journalism has been essentially ingrained with the sense and sanctity
of activism. Laced with activism, such form of journalism provides voice to
the voiceless. This format of communication is globally persistent, giving
thrust to the public interest. Egypt can be cited where blogging could draw
the attention of the public on various issues. The mainstream media was
callous in covering the issues (Radsch, 2016). However, with the power of
citizen journalism and activism, the state’s monopoly on information could
have been mitigated to certain extent. The power of collaborative journalism
has started influencing the public policy and governance.
Citizen journalism, otherwise known for its public interest, gives rise to
activism, resulting in numerous social movements. There is no doubt that
social movements lead to social change and development. The origin and
development of such form of journalism in South Korea can be deliberated in
the light of activism and democratic process of information. This public-
oriented form of journalism gained a foothold at the end of the 1990s and
later intensified the social movement. Subsequently, this germinated the large
scale of protests which grossly influenced the political system and the mass
media. The South Korean social movement remained an interesting case
globally as it was a classic event in the history of development of citizen
journalism (Kern & Nam, 2009). The alterations in mass media, educational
structure and social movement molded sociocultural environment which was
conducive for the emergence of citizen journalism.
Similarly, Syria has a glorious history in terms of showcasing the power
of citizen journalism. It is hard to ignore the activists-journalists whose
voice seems prominent in Syria. Since 2011, the conflict has claimed several
lives and displaced numerous families. International media tend to rely on
citizen journalists to know what is happening in Syria. As Syria became
restricted for international correspondents’ entry, international media heavily
relied on citizen journalists for the information. They keep on showing the
world Syria’s reality, without changing facts and truth (AI Shimale, 2017).
Hadi Al-Abdallah, Khaled Khatib, Lina Shamy and Malek Tarboush are the
few names who are actively involved in citizen journalism in Syria for their
credible works. Hadi Al-Abdallah has won Reporters Without Borders
Press Freedom Award. Worked on the Syria Civil Defence, Khaled Khatib
has covered on the horrors of the war. Lina Shamy has been the voice of the
civilians. Malek Tarboush has reported Syria especially on the aftermath of
an attack and conditions of victims.
The argument over conceivability, capacity, reliability and acceptability
of citizen journalism for stimulating activism keeps on hovering due to laxity
in professional standards (Mutsvairo & Salgado, 2020). However, in
repressive societies, citizen journalism has essentially been instrumental for
creating and intensifying activism among the citizen for varied reasons from
time to time. Often there are debates on objective journalism and activism.
Ideally, journalists are the storytellers and skilled in objective reporting. An
objective reporting reinforces the call for action. Sometimes, journalistic
narratives provide fodder to the sense of activism. Sometimes also when
journalism comes to an end, activism commences. When it comes to citizen
journalism, it is a form of journalism and activism. It has brought a sense of
activism for digital democracy. Digital democracy not only empowers the
space of journalism but also the civil society and governance.
Social movements are being influenced by innovations. It is apparent that
innovations are the cores for attaining development and ushering in social
movements. The emergence and growth of such form of journalism have been
always followed by huge protest or campaigns. The origination and
development of citizen journalism leads to the commencement of new
program, a range of new action, newly formed establishments and addition of
new social groups. Moreover, it has redefined and produced fundamental
changes in the order of media and communication. It also attempts to
destabilize political systems and power structures. Since this nature of
communication is driven by public interests, it fuels the spirit of activism and
social movements. Such form of communication is appropriate for social
change and development.

9.4.5 Artificial Intelligence Enhancing Uses and Gratifications

Each and every media content attempts to provide certain amount of uses and
gratification to its audiences. The approach of uses and gratifications looks
into the reasons behind using media contents. This approach tends to probe
the fundamental reasons behind why people consume media contents. This
perspective largely covers the functions which media tend to serve in
audience’s lives. Audience seeks out the media contents to satisfy their
personal uses and gratifications. This perspective also reveals that the
selection of media facilitates to comprehend “the relationship between the
attributes of the media (real or perceived) and the social and psychological
functions which they serve” (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1974, p. 20).
In the context of citizen journalism and consumers’ media consumption,
Lin (2014) finds that gratifications are being derived from consuming citizen
journalism news. However, there is a relationship among gratifications,
attitude and intention of media consumers to read and comprehend citizen
journalism news. Out of all dimensions of gratifications, making a vigil for
local knowledge, relaxation and entertainment has become more prominent.
More specifically, Singer (2001) points out that the users have strong
surveillance desires for local news and entertainment. Consequently, media
consumers tend to seek out the contents published in citizen journalism
platforms. It is apparent that citizen journalists are keen to focus and publish
on local issues concerning their nearby communities.
Uses and gratification theory posits that audience use media technologies
to increase their level of gratification (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1973).
Moreover, media technologies tend to gratify their specific requirements
(Dhir, Khalil, Lonka, & Tsai, 2017). The use of media technologies could be
to meet social and psychological needs (Dhir, Chen, & Nieminen, 2016),
accessing or to sharing information among their followers or peers (Troise &
Camilleri, 2020), purchasing goods and commodities (Talwar, Dhir, Kaur, &
Mäntymäki, 2020), entertaining purposes (Dhir & Torsheim, 2016), building
relationships or seeking affection (Malik, Dhir, & Nieminen, 2016), instant
messaging on blogging (Hollenbaugh, 2011) and creating user generated
contents (Herrero & San Martín, 2017). One recent study reveals that
individuals have derived uses and gratifications from online streaming
technologies (Camilleri & Falzon, 2020). Social media utilization has further
fostered bonding and bridging social capital (Raji, Arikewuyo, Oladimeji
Adeyemi, & Pahore, 2020).
 The understanding and perspectives of uses and gratification is linked
with media technologies including artificial intelligence. AI as a media
technology has its own uses and gratification. This technological tool has
boosted citizen journalism in creating user-generated content (UGC). AI is
being used in social media platforms and has enhanced the level of
gratification among the audience. Citizen journalists have derived certain
amount of gratification by using AI tools in creating UGC. The UGC could be
in the field of building relationships or seeking affection, shopping, instant
messaging and satisfying social and psychological needs. Understanding the
applications of AI tools in the space of citizen journalism has allowed us to
expand the uses and gratification theory of media.

9.4.6 Emergence of a New Form of Public Sphere

Whenever there are discussions on citizen journalism and its unique way of
functioning, the deliberations on public sphere come to the fore. Jürgen
Habermas (1962/1991, p. 52) states the public sphere as a “society engaged
in critical public debate”. Habermas states that inclusive, reasonable, and
civil deliberative discussions are prerequisite conditions to form and sustain
any democratic society. The formation of public opinion is also essential for
creating public sphere. All citizens ought to have access to everything and
anything. His understanding and definition are believed to be the formation of
public opinion and the formal acceptance of state and democracy in the post-
war Western societies.
Public sphere is understood from various dimensions in which public
opinion is formed. Citizens tend to congregate to articulate their opinions.
The space of public sphere has dignified space in state affairs and practicing
its political affairs. When we try to build up the relationship between citizen
journalism and public sphere, it is often commented that citizen journalism
has the potential for bringing a democratized public sphere. It seems the
connection between these two can be termed as hyperbolic and romantic. In
this context, Goode (2009, p. 1290) asserts, “there remains a tendency to
invoke a modernist, heroic narrative in which individual citizens … become
flag bearers of a nascent ‘fifth estate’”.
The role independent journalism in generating the discourse of public
sphere is immense. Online platforms encouraging independent journalism are
mobilizing citizen journalism. This has enabled the citizens to deconstruct
and take an active part in traditional and newer forms of news media (Antony
& Thomas, 2010). With the immense technological power of the Internet,
citizen journalism is a fertile ground for independent media which can
potentially compete with the corporate media. Such sense of optimism can be
realized with gathering of authentic resources, creating credibility, and
ultimately finding audiences.
Going beyond, the platforms like blogs and video-sharing system have
facilitated the citizens in setting their agenda (Livingstone, 1999). With the
new form of journalism, citizen journalists have attempted to subvert the
traditional from agenda-setting. Usually, the public agenda of media is set
and controlled by media owners. Media ownership patterns have always
control over public agenda which is driven interest of certain class of
people. However, citizen journalism has deconstructed the political economy
of journalism. The basic filters – ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak and
anti-communism and fear – in the propaganda model of communication has
been somewhat affected the form of public agenda.
The participatory form of journalism which is unlike corporate mass
media has changed and reoriented modus operandi of functioning the media.
Public agenda of media and subsequently the public sphere have been
demystified in course of time. However, it is a known fact that as citizen
journalism grapple with the issues of inherent subjectivity, it has opened up
the doors to deliberate on role of affectivity in journalistic functions which
largely cover in deliberative and mediated spaces. Carpenter, Nah, and
Chung (2015) claim that with the advent of professionalism, public sphere in
citizen journalism has been reduced.
While deliberating the essentialities and conditioning for public sphere,
Habermas (1989) postulates that early states of capitalism has fueled the
atmosphere of bourgeois public sphere. This has resulted in the rise of
private property and largely influenced the literary space and other public
entities. Post the mid-1800s, public sphere was controlled by an expanded
state and later taken over by corporate entities. Later, the space for ideal
state of public sphere has gone haywire. Moreover, it has induced the space
of commodification of media and the public agenda of media being
manufactured. Therefore, this climate persists, the presence of citizen
journalism in bourgeois public sphere will be a sign of hope for public
interest. Such form of journalism has challenged bourgeois public sphere and
attempted to usher in an idea state of public sphere.
The origin, nature and growth of public sphere are based on varied
dimensions including media. Media, news and public attention are parts of
public sphere (Nah & Chung, 2020). Citizen journalism as an instrument
tends to overcome the shortcomings which are prevailing in traditional mass
communication process and in the public sphere as well. Citizen journalism
practice with news production is creating an amicable sphere for
collaborative journalism and collaborative public sphere as well. If such
form of collaborative journalism gets strengthened and continue to influence
the citizens in the form of production, distribution and consumption of news,
a new form of collaborative public sphere will emerge. This form of
collaborative public sphere will attempt to minimize the influence of
corporate media on the lives of citizens and the extent of corporate public
sphere can be lessened.

9.4.7 Re-assessing News Values

Understanding and assessing news values remains an important and
debatable aspect in journalistic narratives. Johan Galtung and Mari Holmboe
Ruge (1965) were the first to introduce news values. Michael and Kayode
(2014, p. 15) define news values as the “factors that every experienced
reporter or editor considers, consciously or unconsciously, in deciding what
to include in a story or in newspaper or newscast. They are qualities of news
but they do not directly define news itself”. Further, Ryan (1991, p. 31)
claims, “there is no end to the lists of news criteria”.
News values are not common in nature and can be changed in varied
cultural settings. Certain studies reveal that news values activate more
audience responses. As a result, audience tend to share news on the
platforms of on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter (Araujo &
van der Meer, 2018). Moreover, García-Perdomo, Salaverría, Brown, and
Harlow (2018) claim that human interest, conflict, and controversy news
values appear to be the trigger news values which influence the users of
Facebook and Twitter to share news in social media forums. Social media
like Facebook and Twitter are the sources of creating user-generated content
(UGC) and are connected to citizen journalism. The UGC has failed to
comply with the elements of truth, commitment, ethics, and social
responsibility which remain the essence of traditional journalism (Kang,
2016). On the other hand, it is argued that equipped with UGC, citizen-driven
forms of journalism have given rise to professional journalism which poses
ceaseless threat to the value system of traditional journalistic norms.
However, citizen journalists can hone and augment their credibility. It is
apparent that there have been mixed responses to this alternative platform of
journalism.
In terms of journalistic objectivity as a professional practice, usually
citizen journalism is positioned as subjective and contextual. It functions
differently in diverse political and cultural settings. Waisbord (2013, p. 214)
argues that professional and traditional journalism is still safe and value-
loaded because citizen journalism is “not a collective, organized action by
groups who want to secede from journalism or want to capture practices and
privileges that journalism controls”. However, Muhlmann (2008) maintains
that citizen journalism can be a source to resist the dominating force of
objectivity in traditional journalism and makes sincere efforts to decenter the
readers rather than unite them. Citizen journalism is taking up independent
journalism to the next level. All these perspectives directly or indirectly
point out news values which are the core of any ethical journalism.
Ryan claims that there is no limit to the criteria of news values. Since
artificial intelligence is the latest addition in the field of journalism, it
remains a complex situation in understanding and assessing news values. In
his book Automating the News: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Media,
Diakopoulos (2019) argues that AI is a medium by which journalists can
resort to ethical values through various code of conducts they execute.
However, maintaining news values and ethical values in course of using AI
in newsrooms has become a tough task. Andrea L. Guzman argues, “AI poses
particular challenges for media and communication scholars, requiring them
to cross disciplinary, technological, and theoretical boundaries that have
defined the field for decades” (Broussard et al., 2019, p. 2). Similarly,
Shilton (2018) comments that technologies including AI embeds and encodes
human values and understand the data for further use. AI employs algorithms
and attempts to serve human means and ends. However, this technological
tool remains political and is exuding the values. This purely signals the
journalists and media outlets to be totally aware of and execute their
professional ability and values in the newsrooms. If there are lapses and any
further delay occurs, noneditorial and non-journalistic entities will foray into
the newsrooms and will encroach editorial space. Consequently,
professional journalistic standards will be diluted and the compass of media
laws and ethics will go haywire.
AI can do wonders in the field of journalism. However, it may lessen the
volume of jobs and journalistic identity in the long run. At the same time, it
has its own advantages like renewing journalism by taking over repetitive
and time-consuming tasks. French economist Michel Volle quotes, “The good
and the evil lie in the intention, not in the tool” (Dierickx, 2021). The
editorial values should not be dealt in an isolated manner rather they should
be integrated with AI technologies. Similarly, since AI is a platform for
journalistic delivery, AI should be operated within the ambit of journalistic
values.

9.5 Literature on Citizen Journalism and AI: A

Revisit
Since citizen journalism is an interest of many, the topic has been probed in
various dimensions. Some of the credible studies are – technological changes
in journalism (Lindner & Larson, 2017), radio for citizen journalism (Geller,
2012), mobile telephony and citizen engagement (Tettey, 2017), citizen
engagement (Chen et al., 2020), social movements (Pain, 2018),
participatory journalism (Abbott, 2017), political agency (Korson, 2015),
democratization of mainstream media (Nduhura & Prieler, 2017),
transformation of news (Mythen, 2010), gatekeeping (Ali & Fahmy, 2013),
policymaking process (Luo & Harrison, 2019), photojournalism (Allan,
2013), professional journalism (Lindner, Connell, & Meyer, 2015), user-
generated content (Zeng et al., 2019), rural region (Biswal, 2019) and public
sphere (Antony & Thomas, 2010).
When it comes to the use of artificial intelligence in the domain of citizen
journalism, there is a dearth of scientific studies. On the topic of citizen
journalism and artificial intelligence, some of the allied studies and
perspective write-ups are – content creation (International
Telecommunication Union, 2021), software robots into journalism (Jung,
Song, Kim, Im, & Oh, 2017), citizen journalists with AI (Analytics Insight,
2021), citizen journalism fake news and artificial journalism (Herk &
Grogan, 2019), augmenting the citizen journalists and the newsroom (Beckett,
2019), citizen news editors and AI (Subramaniam, 2019), citizen journalism,
fake news and AI (Staar, 2018) and AI and user-generated contents (Sony,
2021). However, there is a dearth of scientific studies on citizen journalism
from the perspective of artificial intelligence.

9.6 Artificial Intelligence Tools in Citizen

Journalism
The tools that newsrooms can use to aggregate, contextualize, verify, and
license user-generated content (UGC) are provided by transformative
technologies. The most important of these are AI and machine learning; these
developments will make it possible to fully automate the creation of metadata
for content, creating scalable and effective digital libraries for use in news
production. The efficiency and precision of the verification process will both
increase thanks to these technologies' image recognition capabilities. At first,
human evaluation will be crucial. However, over a period of time, the
emphasis will shift toward automation. In this context, Beckett (2019, p. 32)
argues that the motto of using AI is to

“augment the user-citizen, journalist, and the newsroom.

And to create feedback loops that help us understand our
users, content and our journalistic actions and the world
around us in relation to each other. We aim to provide a
more direct, meaningful, and engaging experiences in our
main services. We aim to empower journalists in their news
reporting and storytelling. And we want to create new
methods and tools to better understand ourselves and the
world around us.”

Newsrooms are required to recognize the connection between AI and

information ecosystem through the lens of citizen-driven journalism. The
exploitation of AI has enabled the UGC harmonized in modern news
workflows. AI and UGC: Harmony in modern news workflows. AI can be
instrumental for UGC in terms of aggregation, verification, production,
licensing and storage of news. It helps in terms of automation, integration and
acceleration the UGC for the production, distribution of news contents.
The advent of smartphones with recording, camera and cheaper and larger
space available on it as well as on cloud, have become an inherent digital
tool of everyday life for almost everyone in the world. The phones are
available with several application tools such as WhatsApp, Facebook
messenger, WeChat, QQ, Telegram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc., are to mention a
few. There are several such platforms are being available on the smart
phones. These platforms are helping people come together, share the
messages in the form of text, images, videos, etc. making everyone interested
aware of views and news. The power of this sharing is currently being
exploited by most of the news agencies across the world. The trend is on rise
especially during and after the pandemic in 2020. This way citizen
journalism is trending all over the world. This is helping in quick receiving
as well as updating the news websites dynamically. Moreover, in case of
disasters and emergencies, the authorities can also be kept informed. In
several ways the above-discussed tools such as WhatsApp, Facebook
messenger, WeChat, QQ, Telegram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc. are beneficial if
used ethically; however, any unwarranted use by spreading fake messages,
images, videos, news, etc. knowingly or unknowingly may be disastrous and
may bring huge chaos. This was experienced by most of the social media
users as well as common people.
There are certain measures being adopted by such tools; however, as of
today, most of them are curative than preventive. The Spanish organization
named Maldita have built up a WhatsApp chatbot which helps in checking
the facts before they can be forwarded to the open social platform apart from
the closed groups. The chatbot keeps collecting fake news, photos, videos,
messages from online crawlers as well as from different users. The database
or knowledgebase keeps generating dynamically. Once any of the users sends
certain news, photos, videos or messages, the chatbot verifies with the
database. If it is already verified fake/real, the proof is sent to the user. If
unverified, it is sent to the journalist for review. This way such chatbots are
becoming quite useful in stopping the fake news, messages, photos, videos,
etc. being spread in the WhatsApp groups. One of the examples, is the spread
of COVID positive certificate of a Spanish politician during a television
debate. The message was successfully blocked by this chatbot from being
spread over and disrupt the debate. In the hours’ time, it was proven that the
certificate was fake. There are several such cases of fake news blocked by
the chatbots (Maldita.es, n.d.).
The Netherlands-based newzer founded by Karim Maassen in 2017 built
the mechanism of giving power of news production to the news creators
rather than publishing houses. This is built using AI and Blockchain (Merten,
2018). This mechanism basically empowers the prosumers, building
trustworthy content with a little space for sensation, emotions we well as
wrong information. It may help in building quality over a period of time. This
may in fact help in taking the right and correct news to the audience/reader.
Such tools built on the wisdom of crowd removes the advertising aspect from
the news content and gives power to the prosumers which essentially is the
first user-generated news agency.
As mentioned earlier fake news detection or avoidance is quite important.
The TotalStories is a social network (Analytics Insight, 2021) founded by
Diego Estevez in 2016 democratizes the production of news. It enables the
journalists and the people who experienced the news to share their
experiences and then using certain AI and Machine Learning (ML) tools
classifies it to reduce the bias and increase accuracy. TotalStories is a social
network that aims to democratize the production of news, by giving citizen
journalists and the people who experienced the events first-hand the tools to
share their experiences automatically and easily, and then use AI to classify
them and determine a quality index representing how unbiased and accurate
they are. The general benchmarks for the classification are tone, concept,
ideas, countries, etc. The users are informed about the news based on their
geographical location, interests. The statistics of the news and other relevant
factors responsible for classification are also provided to the reader making
it more important to them. TotalStories shows a very innovative application
of AI, proving that it could successfully be used throughout the entire cycle of
news publishing: from the writing of the article to when the readers consume
it. Such a degree of automatization seems to have successfully built a bridge
between the citizens who experience facts and the consumers, in a
trustworthy and efficient manner.
 The data in terms of news, images, videos, messages, etc. are highly
multimodal and required to be considered as big data as such data are and
will be characterized by being generated in big volume in very less amount
of time. Moreover, checking and establishing the value and veracity are
major challenges before the processing of the data. With the increase in
number of cell phones, increase in data storage, reducing the cost will flood
the data flow. As people from all age strata may share news, videos,
messages, etc. the storage of the data will be a challenge. The big data
processing tools are still in their inception stage requiring research and
development in academia and industry view point. The cloud computing
along with edge computing are the possible solutions. With the emergence of
the concept of Explainable AI the complexity in the field will increase;
however, trustworthiness, quality and integrity will be on the rise. The
Explainable AI will certainly be helpful in rationalizing the news and the
conclusion as well as excerpt of the entire news and events. Furthermore, the
laws and regulations for the AI-based news are required to be constituted to
reduce the danger of biasness, fixing the responsibility and enhance the
trustworthiness.
For the users, it provides a much more improved way of reading news,
automatically getting summaries and analysis specifically determining how
valuable the articles are while offering a suite of statistics showing how the
report could be biased and what the writer is trying to convey. Given that the
pieces of writing are automatically analyzed for many tacit elements such as
sentiment, concepts, places, and ideas, it allows the system to classify the
articles into very specific categories. From these, they could later be
recommended and shared to users that the algorithm predicted they should
know about. On the other hand, for writers, it automatizes the process of
sharing news while enriching those with related stories, events, people, and
topics. Simultaneously, it provides a standard of quality from which to
improve the reports (given that they receive a quality index), which
incentivizes writers to provide the platform with direct links to sources and
evidence. Writers also get a reputation index based on their articles, which
then becomes an unbiased way of ranking and comparing newspapers by
“trustworthiness”.
9.7 Concluding Remarks
Citizen journalism is a journey from passion to possibility. Technologies
have envisioned and accommodated the future roadmap for citizen
journalism, participatory journalism and emancipatory communication. The
participatory media technologies have permitted the creation, distribution
and distribution of user-generated content to invade traditional notion of
mainstream media. Use of technologies in general and artificial intelligence
including the new tool ChatGPT in particular has the potential implications
to create and enhance various forms of citizen journalism. AI tools have
innovative avenues of reportage for the interests of the communities, paving
the way for participatory journalism which further leads to inclusive
journalism and inclusive development. However, affordability, digitally
literacy and experimentation with AI for citizen journalism are the
challenging factors. Ethical issues and machine changing the man in the
newsrooms are the lurking threat to the mainstream media and citizen
journalism as well. However, AI is going to reconceptualize the notion of
citizen journalism. We cannot ignore technologies like AI which is coming in
a big way and going to influence every aspect of our lives. Technological
interventions have become inevitable. However, since citizen journalism is
an alternative platform of journalism which pays attention to alternative
thought, ambition and aspiration of common citizens, judicious employment
of AI tools is to be discussed. Mere use of technological tools is not going to
boost any professional entities including this alternative podium to
journalism.
Citizen journalists can be sensitized to both positive and negative
dimensions of AI in course of usages. Citizen journalism through AI can
reconceptualize the public sphere in which the common citizens and
marginalized communities can initiate, foster and sustain participatory
journalism. Collaborative journalism has already disrupted the traditional
form of journalism and is going to reorganize the economy of production,
distribution and consumption of news media in a great pace in the future.
Eventually, the organizational population dynamics and technological
innovations of news organizations, exogeneous political events, and
endogenic disruptions in the media ecology will shape up the course of
citizen journalism over a period of time. The topics of dichotomy pertaining
to gender, geography and nature of citizens pertaining to citizen journalism
and AI will be the next level of discourse that the world of journalism and
technology cannot afford to evade them.

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10 Deliberating Artificial
Intelligence in the Prism of Citizen
Journalism

Comparative Perspectives and

Competing Explanations
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-10

10.1 Introduction
The presence of mainstream media does influence the citizens and shape up
their thoughts and decisions. Over all the years, mainstream media is often
treated as large news conglomerates which is often accused of media
biasness and disseminating homogenization of viewpoints to the citizens.
This has originated the notion and practice citizen journalism, which remains
citizen-centric in nature. However, citizen journalism is also not free from
shortcomings. However, the factors like increasing number of internet users
and shifting stands on political dissent and participation have reoriented the
idea and execution of citizen journalism (Mutsvairo & Salgado, 2020).
Moreover, with the advent of artificial intelligence, the process of citizen
journalism – production, distribution and consumption of news contents – is
going to be influenced. Since citizen journalism and artificial intelligence
(AI) are not isolated entities, the use of AI tools in the process of citizen
journalism has invited debates in academic and industry fraternities. Each of
the processes of communication – sender, medium, message and receiver –
through this alternative form of journalism requires judicious debates. Few
of the topics like audience engagement, journalistic identity, developmental
and participatory journalism, public sphere, gatekeeping, digital divide,
gender perspectives and newer technological upgradations including
metaverse, blockchain, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), computer-generated
imagery (CGI), immersive technologies and ChatGPT deserve a revisit.

10.2 Citizen Journalism, Artificial Intelligence and

Changing Perspectives
The perspectives are constructed and deconstructed on the use of artificial
intelligence tools in the field of citizen journalism. Since AI has been newly
introduced in the newsrooms in several parts of the world, it is getting tested
on the anvil of journalistic spirit and public interests. Varied perspectives –
gratification approach; new journalistic identity; digital humanism; social
imaginary and sociotechnical imaginaries; journalistic dimensions in social
media; transformations in newsrooms; democratization of media contents;
participatory journalism; surveillance of public interest; marginalized and
inclusive journalism; social change, empowerment and development; news
values; gatekeeping and quality control; social marketing and business
perspectives; freedom of expression and dissent; public sphere; digital
divide; technological dissonance; misinformation, disinformation, fake news
and infowars; gender perspectives; advent of other newer communication
technologies like metaverse, blockchain, nonfungible tokens (NFTs),
computer-generated imagery (CGI), immersive technologies and ChatGPT;
and agenda and politics need to be deliberated on citizen journalism in the
light of technological implications in general and artificial intelligence in
particular.

10.2.1 ChatGPT, Citizen Journalism and Emerging Perspectives

Institutionalized journalism is far behind citizen journalism in time. The
development of citizen journalism has been aided by the media landscape's
decline. Audiences are increasingly resorting to social media platforms and
alternative news sources as networks merge and local newsrooms close or
are acquired by major corporations. The public's mistrust of mainstream
media has also increased as a result of media consolidation. Mainstream
media, driven by profit and interests, ignores local news coverage that is
important to diverse and underserved communities (Medium, 2023).
Technology's quick development has had a big impact on journalism,
changing how news is reported and accessed. The rise of grassroots
reporting and citizen journalism in recent years, in which common people
attempt to play the role of journalists to report news and share information
with the public, is one of the most notable developments. This phenomenon
has been aided by the growth of smartphones and social media platforms,
which have made it simpler for people to gather and share news in real time.
The emergence of ChatGPT, offers encouraging potential inputs in
enhancing the caliber and scope of grassroots reporting as we continue to
investigate new avenues for empowering citizen journalism. The introduction
of ChatGPT provides exciting potential for improving the caliber and scope
of citizen journalism. ChatGPT has been trained on a sizable amount of text
data, allowing it to produce responses to text inputs that resemble those of a
human. The potential of this cutting-edge technology has already been shown
in a number of applications, including email drafting, writing code,
responding to questions, and even producing poetry. As this AI tool can
support in addressing some of the major issues faced by nonprofessional
journalists, its influence on citizen journalism and grassroots reporting is
becoming apparent.
Lack of formal training in journalism, which can lead to the dissemination
of false or biased information, is one of the main challenges that one citizen
journalist faces. By acting as an effective fact-checking tool, ChatGPT can
lessen this particular problem. This AI tool can help citizen journalists to
check the accuracy of their reports and make sure they follow the rules of
ethical journalism by giving them instant access to a wealth of knowledge.
This not only strengthens the reliability of citizen journalism but also ‐
contributes to the domain of news industry to the fight against the spread of
false information.
ChatGPT is acting as a writing assistant which is able to understand and
maintain clarity and coherence of citizen journalists' thoughts and ideas. This
AI tool is extremely helpful to citizen journalists who are weak in language.
The tool can be used to summarize lengthy articles or reports, allowing
citizen journalists to present complex information in a clear and
understandable manner. ChatGPT can assist citizen journalists in reaching out
to a larger audience and enhancing the impact of their reporting by providing
an effective way to summarize the facts and figures. The AI model can be
instrumental in fostering multilingual citizen journalism. In a view to
translate news articles and reports and enable local reporting to be consumed
by a global audience, ChatGPT can be trained to comprehend and produce
text in a variety of languages. As a result, the gap between various
communities can be minimized and can provide the ways for inclusive media
environment. This technological intervention can lead to more interactive and
participatory journalism. The future of news industry seems to be more
democratic, diverse, and inclusive than ever before with the growth of
citizen journalism, equipped with ChatGPT. The incorporation of tools like
ChatGPT with the hand of grassroots journalists can be crucial in
determining the future of news reporting and information dissemination as we
continue to witness the transformative impact of technology on the media
landscape.
By sharing their perspectives, experiences, and insights with a global
audience through ChatGPT, citizen journalists can place a distinctive and
valuable perspective on current affairs. Sometimes gatekeepers in
newsrooms are not professional in spirit. Overcoming the layers of
information gatekeepers is ChatGPT's advantage. Any citizen can tell his/her
story using ChatGPT, regardless of background or the level of experience.
The AI tool can be successful in enabling more complex and varied news
reporting.

10.2.2 Artificial Intelligence, Journalism and Uses and

Gratification Approach
The uses and gratification remain a vital approach for media uses. Audience
uses media technologies to augment the level of gratifications (Katz, Blumler,
& Gurevitch, 1973). In the context of using communication technologies, AI
may enhance the level of uses and gratification level of audience, but could
be restricted to the users who have the accessibility and knowledge of using
them. Again, this may happen if the technological acceptance occurs for any
sort of technologies including AI. A study reveals that online users employ
online media tools to access information or to share it among peers or
followers (Troise & Camilleri, 2020). However, as AI is believed to be a
complicated matter in terms of uses for the time being, citizen journalists
might not be proficient enough to create a good number of user-generated
content (UGC) of relevance. As a result, the very purpose of UGC and
participatory journalism will come to an end. Since AI is a new phenomenon,
the level of uses and gratification what CJ through AI tools will provide,
will be a matter of question. Gratifications derived from CJ coupled with AI
tools will be a core of debates.
Audiences expect and demand their news to be delivered to them in real
time because they live in an era where instant gratification has become a
standard norm. In social media platforms, news spreads quickly and there is
a presence of citizen journalists. However, there is a need for accurate and
high-caliber reporting. This is where ChatGPT comes in as a tool to enhance
journalism and news. ChatGPT can facilitate quick and effective fact-
checking and research for the citizen journalists. This is what this AI tool can
bring varied uses and gratification for citizen journalists.

10.2.3 Artificial Intelligence, Social Marketing and Business

Perspectives
The future of AI in journalism looks relevant, yet it is getting complex. Apart
from journalism, it has forayed into other facets like marketing strategies and
customer behaviors. Charlie Beckett (2019) maintains,

“The future impact of AI is uncertain but it has the potential

for wide-ranging and profound influence on how journalism
is made and consumed. AI can free up journalists to work
on creating better journalism at a time when the news
industry is fighting for economic sustainability and for
public trust and relevance. It can also help the public to cope
with a world of news overload and misinformation and to
connect them in a convenient way to credible content that is
relevant, useful and stimulating for their lives.”

Davenport, Guha, Grewal, and Bressgott (2020) argue that since artificial
intelligence has started influencing marketing strategies and customer
behaviors, citizen journalism can be a part of start-ups and social
entrepreneurship. Social marketing, nonprofit ventures and community-driven
initiatives can be fostered and sustained.

10.2.4 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and New Journalistic

Identity
Citizen journalism has contributed immensely to the field of journalism.
Citizen journalism builds citizens’ self-constructed journalistic identity
which remains an essential factor for attaining a sense of empowerment
(Staples, 1990). However, since citizen journalists are not able to create
effective UGC for the communities, the level and importance of
empowerment will start declining. It is a proven fact that technology
including AI in the field of citizen journalism is a boon for fostering and
sustaining empowerment. However, if UGC by communities through AI tools
are not public-oriented and visible, then the sense of empowerment will
become momentary. Moreover, the impact of technology as a tool of
development, emancipation and empowerment will go haywire. It will
reduce to mere idealism and the sense of pragmatism will be grossly missing.
This needs to be checked in the prism of journalistic spirit and social
development.
Citizen journalists are equipped with the skills to alter the process of
changing the patterns of journalism by creating values in the process of
production, distribution and consumption of media contents. Such kind of
journalists at the margins tend to report and take on the status of socio-
economic exclusion. In addition, this alternative platform of journalism
attempts to bestow an identity to all the citizen journalists. Citizen journalists
tend to contest for their space in the domain of journalism.
Since citizen journalism attempts to bring inclusive development through
inclusive journalism in the process of empowering marginalized groups,
value additions from AI tools to this alternative platform of journalism could
be beneficial to the citizens. As a result, citizen journalists will be able to
break the barriers and it will create identities for the communities. This
nature of journalists needs to have accessible and adaptable technology in
overcoming the level of fear and social isolation. Eventually in course of
time, journalists will provide voice on behalf of public and they will be
turned into public voice. AI inputs could be considered as emancipatory
tools for social change by challenging the inherent fundamental flaws in
fostering and sustaining participatory practices. AI-driven alternative
journalism can play pivotal roles like checking and exposing corruption,
encouraging accountability, maintaining the documents on/against the
mechanism which misuses the power and fosters alternative views and
discourses on local, national and international current affairs. Further, the
advent of ChatGPT has fueled Personalization of news contents which has a
larger space in citizen journalism. As ChatGPT enables the creation of
personalized news content, audience may expect a more customized news
experience, driving news organizations to innovate and adapt to these
changing preferences. Since citizen journalism is an alternative form of
journalism, this AI tool has immense contribution in creating a new
journalistic identity in the space of news industry.

10.2.5 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Humanism

The use of technologies including artificial intelligence in citizen journalism
has brought the discourse on digital journalism. Digital humanism is the
amalgamation and juncture of computing and the disciplines of the
humanities. Burdick, Drucker, Lunenfeld, Presner, and Schnapp (2012, p.
112) assert digital humanities as,

“new ways of doing scholarship that involve collaborative,

transdisciplinary, and computationally engaged research,
teaching, and publishing. It brings digital tools and methods
to the study of the humanities with the recognition that the
printed word is no longer the main medium for knowledge
production and distribution.”

Understanding digital humanism covering the aspects of AI in the space of

citizen journalism is an important area which needs further exploration. The
production and distribution of collaborative, transdisciplinary, and
computationally engaged studies in the domain of citizen journalism remain
scarce. Therefore, the presence of digital humanitarianism who support
research and relief efforts through online work also remain thin when it
comes to the utilization of AI for boosting citizen journalism. Crisis mapping
is an essential means of digital humanitarianism. The research gap between
the use of AI in citizen journalism and theory-building can be bridged through
the convergence of digital humanitarianism and crisis news. In this context,
academic enquiries have to be initiated and sustained.
By introducing a new form of writing that makes use of AI, ChatGPT is
transforming the digital humanities. For AI-driven writing in the digital
humanities, ChatGPT represents a new frontier. A new era of writing
powered by AI is a new beginning. Thanks to the digital humanities. The new
AI-based writing platform ChatGPT is setting a new standard. A team of
University of Washington researchers created ChatGPT, a natural language
processing system that can produce writing that resembles that of a human.
By assisting citizen journalists with automating the journalistic process,
ChatGPT can be used by the digital humanities to free up the citizen
journalists to concentrate on other aspects of their work. This AI tool has
redefined digital humanism in the space of citizen journalism.

10.2.6 Artificial Intelligence, Social Imaginary and

Sociotechnical Imaginaries
Like the internet-mediated environment (Squire, 2021), AI mediated
environment needs to be discussed and analyzed. Since the implications of
AI tools in the domain of citizen journalism belong to a new domain, the
dimensions of AI-mediated environment, institutionalization of AI and social
imaginary of citizen journalism driven by AI deserve to be probed. There is
no doubt that imaginaries influence citizen journalism governing digital
technologies in general and artificial intelligence in particular. However, the
narratives on AI from industry perspectives – AI is inevitable for everything
in sociotechnical institution – has become a dominant imaginary. By
investigating this dimension further, theoretical dimensions of social
imaginary and sociotechnical imaginaries can be explored and broadened.
Further, such deliberations can attempt to bridge the gaps between what
citizen journalism is performing for the people and what it should perform
for the people. As a result, the practical aspects of citizen journalism for
empowerment by artificial intelligence can be significantly enhanced for the
greater cause of the citizens. Such contribution of AI in the direction of
citizen journalism can contribute in the area of social imaginary and
sociotechnical imaginaries.

10.2.7 Journalistic Dimension of Technology, Artificial

Intelligence and Social Media
The power of communication technologies is immense in creating various
forms of citizen journalism. Over the years, users are engrossed with social
media platforms and the presence of users in social media is on the rise.
Facebook is considered as the most used social media platform across the
globe. As per the data, there are 320 million in India, 190 million users in the
United States and 140 million users in Indonesia. There are around 2,740
million total users of this platform (Statista, 2021a). Therefore, there are a
plethora of opportunities in which citizens can create user-generated contents
which can pave the way for citizen journalism.
YouTube is the second largest social media platform across the globe.
This social media platform has accommodated 2291 million users
worldwide. The penetration of YouTube in Israel, The Netherlands and
United Arab Emirates has touched the mark of 92.7%, 92.5% and 92.1%
respectively (Statista, 2021b). WhatsApp is the third largest social media
platform worldwide in which total of 2,000 million users are associated in
numerous forms of communication. As per the latest data by January 2021 on
WhatsApp usages, India, Brazil and the United States have the 390.1 million,
108.4 million and 75.1 million users, respectively (Statista, 2021b). Since
Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApps are grossly used by citizens across the
globe, these platforms could be fertile forums for citizen journalists who can
create user-generated content on varied aspects of life. In this context, the
scope for utilizing AI tools has become widespread. However, the issue of
digital divide exists across the nations. Moreover, unfortunately these social
media platforms are also grossly used for propaganda and are misleading the
citizens in a ceaseless manner.
It is apparent that mobile technology, a form of communication technology
has strengthened the essence of citizen journalism by creating UGC on a
number of issues. Even to some extent, mainstream media attempts to engage
the citizens to some extent (Carpenter, 2010). Though crowdsourcing strategy
is not a new approach, but citizen journalism hugely endorses it. AI can be
mobilized in order to boost the spirit of crowdsourcing in terms of
ownership for the creation and distribution of contents. This further enhances
the levels of participation among the aspiring citizen journalists. This heralds
in new opportunities for plurality among citizens for journalism. This is a
possible effort which can situate the plurality in an egalitarian frame which
further attempts to understand and dissolves the issues of the public through
UGC.

10.2.8 Artificial Intelligence, User-Generated Content and

Transformations in Newsrooms
Over the years, newsrooms across the globe have been subjected to all kinds
of transformations. Even though citizen journalism is often termed an
alternative path to mainstream journalism, such nature of journalism has the
power and efficacy to transform both the civic and newsroom functionaries.
It has not only unraveled numerous debates between the professional versus
amateur journalism but also the role of citizenship within the spectrum of
citizen journalism (Campbell, 2014). Technology has the power to influence
the journalists in the newsrooms and the news disseminated from the
newsrooms is impactful on the audience. Technology has the ability to
influence citizenship within citizen journalism. However, skepticism still
rules how AI, as a part of technological input, influence citizenship within
the gamut of citizen journalism. Embracing digital technologies requires
sincere attention.
Citizen journalism is equipped with various modus operandi in voicing
out for the marginalized. In this context, Campbell and Scott (2011, p. 277)
have rightly enunciated that citizen journalism

“seeks to encourage members of excluded groups into

dialogue about their health amongst themselves, as well as
giving them a voice in public debates about how to tackle
obstacles to their well-being, and involving them in efforts
to challenge and renegotiate the way they are represented.”
The issue of conceivability, capacity, reliability, and acceptability of citizen
journalists can be managed by technological interventions like AI. The
exchange of knowledge and interaction can be possible when a journalist is
capable of and afford the technological connectivity.
Needless to say, Facebook remains a platform of numerous conversations
including the collections and sharing of news on lifestyle, interests and
behavior patterns by various communities. The impact of Facebook
Artificial Intelligence is immense. There is no end to innovation. Banerjee
(2021) finds that Facebook has started imparting trainings to its AI
algorithms to critically understand the videos available on its platform.
Ultimately, it attempts to enhance the logistics and analytics to recommend or
distribute the videos among the users of Facebook. This is an attempt to
enhance the engagement of users with social media. Since the presence of
several citizen journalists are in there in Facebook, AI is directly or
indirectly and knowingly or unknowingly encouraging the level of
engagement. As a result, participatory communication through user-generated
content has been significantly increased. Hence, the required interventions
from AI for this alternative platform of journalism is a matter of discussion
and intervention.

10.2.9 Artificial Intelligence and Democratization of Media

Contents
The benefits of user-generated content (UGC) are the access to contents,
audience engagement and empowerment and democratization of media
contents. However, these benefits emanated from UGC may not be derived
with the incorporation of AI tools with UGC. Empowering citizens and
communities help in maintaining the trust and belief of the audience. It leads
to community engagement which further expands the reach of the newsroom,
and strengthens the credibility of media contents. Democratizing journalism
creates the stage for UGC and makes the news environment inclusive. To
achieve this, technologies like AI may not have the solution. All we know
that so far, the use of AI tools for producing and distributing media contents
are in the hands of corporate media houses.
The handling of AI has been largely politically and economically driven
and is often termed as hegemonic in nature. However, including the citizens
in the process of producing, distributing and consuming news through UGC,
is argued to be

a powerful way to spread journalistic values, train residents

on reporting processes and foster user generated content that
is more useful for newsrooms. Newsrooms are well
positioned to become participatory journalism laboratories,
helping more people navigate, verify and create powerful
stories online and via social media.

(Tubman, 2018, p.16)

Nevertheless, with AI tools coming in the process of UGC, democratization

process in journalism will be a question mark. As it is a known fact that for a
meaningful and cohesive contribution for attainment of democracy, the
bottom-up approach to journalism is imperative. However, AI-driven
journalism may not accommodate a bottom-up model of conversation and
journalistic narratives which remain fundamental rudiments in citizen
journalism. Nevertheless, ChatGPT may be the light which could mobilize
citizen journalism.

10.2.10 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Participatory

Journalism
With the arrival of AI in citizen journalism, the democratic worth of citizen
journalism and the deregulation of the media landscape have been getting
recognized. Greater access of media contents to citizens is getting
accomplished. Community voices in news stories are becoming more
apparent. Greater community ownership of the news story is becoming
possible and it has given rise to the competition between citizen journalism
and the elites of state and commercial news media. Moreover, the
technological inputs from AI in citizen journalism have extended the scope of
experiments with more participatory tactics to journalistic creations.
It is found that professionalism has the domination of certain elite citizens
in the space of public sphere in citizen journalism (Carpenter, Nah, & Chung,
2015). As AI involves skills and costly affairs, public sphere in the space of
citizens is going to be dominated by a special section of citizens. As a result,
with the introduction of AI, participatory form of journalism or citizen
journalism may get diluted in course of time and eventually, its real position
and cause may meet the dead end. You may blame shoddy professionalism to
the core or the use of AI in citizen journalism without considering the
requirement, context and relevance. This may destroy and minimize the
essence or beauty of this unique state of journalism which originally aims to
provide the voice to the voiceless. Further, this may jeopardize the essence
of activism and cause of disadvantaged sections who fundamentally attempt
to resort to the form of citizen journalism for a noble cause. At the same time,
eventually the corporate or business interests will take over the noble cause
and this unique form of journalism for public interest will go haywire.
When news driven by AI is professionalized, citizens will become
acquisitive individuals instead of engaged citizens. Carey (1995, p. 254)
argues that such a tendency will alter the “notion of citizens of a common
polity who participate in a common political tradition [became] increasingly
difficult to imagine”. In addition, Carey (1995, pp. 249–250) states,
“Ultimately this view creates a passive role for the public in the theater of
politics. The public is an observer of the press rather than “participators in
the government of our affairs and the dialogue of democracy”. The adherence
of professionalism needs to be duly customized. Participatory journalism and
audience engagement need to be factored in while considering the use of AI
tools for creating citizen journalism of public values.
The nature and face of citizen journalism is subject to change.
Participatory journalism through citizen journalism is becoming possible as
newsrooms continue to experiment with how they collaborate with their
audiences and communities. It is, essentially, a process of sharing power in
the production of content. A new era of potential transformation of
journalism and media content is being ushered in by AI tools (Pavlik, 2023).
Citizen journalists can resort to AI tools like ChatGPT which may generate
text responses based on its knowledge that it has gathered through machine
learning through interaction with the internet. ChatGPT can assist citizen
journalists in the creation, revision, and approval of their own narratives.
10.2.11 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Surveillance of
Public Interest
With use of the technologies including AI, a plethora of concepts tend to
contest with each other. Out of many, there have been contests and
deliberations on surveillance and sousveillance. To Mann, Nolan and
Wellman (2003, p. 2) surveillance refers to

“organizations observing people. One way to challenge and

problematize both surveillance and acquiescence to it is to
resituate these technologies of control on individuals,
offering panoptic technologies to help them observe those in
authority. We call this inverse panopticon “sousveillance.”

Sousveillance is like from the state being watched to watching. Zeng, Jain,
Nguyen, and Allan (2019) claim that with the sousveillance comes in,
citizens are able to track the functions of authorities. As one citizen journalist
has rightly spoken to the Atlantic, “The cultural significance of flesh searches
is this: In an undemocratic country, the people have limited means to get
information. Information about [the activities of] public power is not
transparent and operates in a black box, [but] citizens can get access to
information through the internet, exposing lies and the truth. It is a kind of
asymmetrical means of protest, and in some ways has had good effects”
(Light, n.d.).
When AI tools are used with the hand of citizen journalists, sousveillance
will be stringent and they will be executing monitoring activities on the
administering mechanism or authorities to check the malpractices like
corruption, dilly-dallying of authorities and police ruthlessness. There is no
doubt that AI tools will enhance the watching culture of citizen journalists.
However, citizen journalists who track and procure the data for fair
governance in the process of surveillance need to be proactive in
understanding and executing various technologies including AI tools.

10.2.12 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Inclusive

Journalism
Commodification of journalism has become a rising concern across the
globe. News has turned into goods which are used for the cause of
competition and best distribution among the audience (Palo, 2019). The use
of technologies is making journalism more in the form of goods. There is a
slight distrust that technologies have elevated humans from heavy, hazardous
or monotonous deeds to a better position. However, it has developed the
commodification of human work. With the arrival of AI tools in citizen
journalism, there could be commodification of human labor with unwanted
dehumanizing penalties and outcomes. AI may further intensify the
commodification of news contents. When AI is to be employed in citizen
journalism, the involvement of investing financial and trained human
resources is the larger talking points. If this happens, the participation of
citizen journalists at the margins will be downsized. With the
commodification of journalism, the citizens who are on the alternative
platforms of journalism will eventually negotiate with the levels of
participation which will go against the nerve of citizen journalism.
It is known that this alternative forum of journalism brings the voice of the
marginalized groups. It attempts to mainstream their voice and somewhat
raises the concerns for their due human rights. Since the mainstream media
does not pay minimum heed to their voice, the marginalized sections tend to
resort to alternative platforms like citizen journalism. This form of
journalism can be treated as a connecting dot between the citizens and the
administrating authority. With the advent of AI, citizen journalism can be
better to cope with the articulations of HAVE-NOTs. The user-generated
content (UGC) has the potential advantages which can signal social change
for development and can catch the attention of civil society. Even it can bring
the attention of newsrooms of mainstream media for the interests of the
poorest of the poor. However, since the use of AI demand certain skills sets
and certain amount of cost attached, the efficacy of AI to make the UGC for
bringing social change and development may not be feasible. Again, the use
of AI can be only possible in the newsrooms of mainstream media settings or
with the hands of elite individuals. If this happens, AI cannot be a tool for
social change, empowerment, social development and inclusive
development. This will again enhance the gap between ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE-HAVES and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE -HAVE
NOTS, causing socioeconomic discontent and disparity. Whiling dealing
with the AI tools for citizen journalism, the cause for the voice of the
marginalized and inclusive journalism can be attained.

10.2.13 Artificial Intelligence, Social Change, Empowerment

and Development
To Deuze (2009, p. 257), citizen journalism

“is not about people interacting and collaborating with each

other through news organizations (or brands), nor about
citizens interacting or cocreating with journalists. It is about
citizens engaging in peer-to-peer relationships with each
other, independent of—and perhaps most often in direct
opposition to the mainstream news industry.”

Citizen journalism can be a potential catalyst for social change and

development. However, when AI comes into play, there is a doubt that the
citizens may not retain the property of alternative counter-hegemonic or
community-driven initiatives. Community may not afford to subscribe or
execute the AI tools proficiently for social change and community
development to happen. Once a community is unable to handle its own,
individuals or elite media organizations may take over the alternative
platform of communication and later very nature counter-hegemonic or
community-driven initiatives of citizen journalism will face its decay soon.
Several instances reveal that technology has played vital roles in
lowering the barriers among the marginalized to participate in the process of
production, distribution and consumption of news. Vicente and Lopez (2010)
confirm that with help from technology, citizen journalism has mitigated the
barriers between the elite and the marginalized. However, in reality it is
often found that the marginalized sections have disproportionate access to
communication technologies. In a similar fashion, AI can be instrumental in
bridging the gap between information rich and information poor by creating
user-generated content (UGC). On the contrary, AI may not be a suitable
factor to mitigate the barrier between the information rich and information
poor and information equality cannot be attained. It may only add to the
plights of the marginalized sections of society, causing the vicious circle of
poverty and deprivation.
Jönsson and Örnebring (2011 p. 141) argue that user-generated content
“represents both an empowerment of citizens and an ‘interactive illusion’”.
Citizen journalism though UGC can empower the citizens or it remains an
interactive platform without any positive impact on community or society.
When it comes to the incorporation of AI to create UGC, the result could by
anything – positive or nonimpact on the citizens or communities. On the other
hand, opposite to citizen journalism, mainstream media have wider reach and
are being controlled in many respects. The contents in such type of media
structure are not community-oriented. These are driven by profit and
corporate interests so far as the political economy of media is concerned. In
this context, Jönsson and Örnebring (2011, p. 141) also assert “the paradox
being that it is difficult to achieve empowerment within the institutional and
organizational logic of mainstream media”. In these paradoxical narratives,
the use of AI for empowerment of the marginalized classes by voicing the
voiceless looks an illusion and needs to be revisited in the prism of social
change, development and empowerment.
The internet, one form of communication technology, has the power to
foster and sustain the process of citizen journalism. It is a tool of
empowerment and social change and intensifies such type of journalism by
creating UGC . In this context, Luo and Harrison (2019, p. 1) claims,

“The Internet has changed the way people obtain and

interact with news and information about government
policy, in part, because the public no longer needs to rely on
newspapers or television programs for these purposes.
People access news and express their opinions on the
Internet, especially through social media. Beyond traditional
news media, such as television programs and print
newspapers, many people gather news from social media
such as Facebook and Twitter.”

Tang and Sampson (2012) find that social movement organizations across the
globe resort to the power of the internet to influence traditional media.
Studies claim that Chinese netizens are able to mold the perennial news
agenda through discussion on digital forums. Statista (2021c) reveals that
there are 4.66 billion active internet users, 4.32 active mobile internet users,
4.2 active social media users and 4.15 billion active mobile social media
users. According to the latest data by January 2021 in all global mobile
messenger apps, there are 2000 million users in WhatsApp, 1300 million
users in Facebook messenger, 1223 million users in Weixin/WeChat, 617
million users in QQ, 500 million users in Telegram and 498 million users in
Snapchat. All these apps are internet-enabled platforms which have immense
scopes for citizen journalists to create huge amount of UGC on multiple
subjects. The subjects or interests concerning the citizens can be amply
addressed. Since artificial intelligence has substantial functions in these
digital platforms, AI can influence citizen journalism to a great extent.
The fundamental claim made by citizen journalism is to realize equitable
and inclusive democratic deliberations (Gillmor, 2004) which are largely
absent in profit-motivated mainstream media houses. The basic premise to
take on industrial journalism will be under carpet once citizen journalism
resorts to AI. The problems of AI will remain like the introduction of new
technologies in newsrooms. Resorting to AI tools in alternative platforms of
journalism will eventually go for collaborations with elite individuals or
mainstream media. Consequently, these mainstream media outlets will take
over these alternative media platforms in due course of time. As a result, the
very nature of anti-industrial journalism and democratic form of journalistic
content production will be diluted. Subsequently, there could be the decay of
citizen journalism in a real sense.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have started employing AI-
driven tools like ChatGPT to improve collaboration, communication, and
impact in their work as technology advances. By utilizing ChatGPT, NGOs
can improve operational efficiency, engage with stakeholders more
successfully, and ultimately lead to social change, empowerment and
development. NGOs can benefit from ChatGPT. It can improve grassroots
movements for social change and communication, collaboration, and impact.
Since some citizen journalists are social activists and involve in numerous
activisms, ChatGPT can act a tool for social change, empowerment and
development.
10.2.14 Artificial Intelligence, Social Media and Credibility
Citizen journalists are often positioned as far from reality. They are often
accused of carrying only diverse and contradictory attitudes towards
mainstream journalism. Their voice is termed as distortion of facts due to the
personal biasness. In fact, this is subjected to recurring debates. If this holds
true or this is partially proven, the use of AI tools for the enterprise and
venture of citizen journalism will doubly detrimental as AI will be engaged
in algorithms pertaining to the data and perspectives available in the domain
of citizen journalism itself. AI is not going to fetch something new or
interesting out of the datasets available.
Luo and Harrison (2019) find that sometimes citizen journalists are
amateurs in behavior. Consequently, these journalists who are in the social
media platforms are not taken seriously for their journalistic endeavors.
Again Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the bigger players in social
media and have their own dynamics in terms of operations, audience
participation and audience retentions. Here, the participation is not purely
democratic as the political economy of these social media forums is
corporate-driven, not to empower the citizens for the collaborative approach
for the production, distribution and consumption of news contents. However,
Miller (2010) argues that social media like Twitter users can be dynamic in
the process of creating news which facilitates the citizen journalists to report
the events with a greater pace and with much freedom. With the AI tools,
citizen journalists on the social media platforms may be professional or
amateurish, depending on the nature of events or it could be the individuals’
position and interests. Moreover, their credibility matters with the
incorporation of AI with citizen journalism.
ChatGPT is a potent AI tool that can assist social media platforms in
fostering varied narratives and conversations. It can produce natural,
fascinating, and interesting conversations. Moreover, it is possible to design
conversations based on the preferences and interests of the users. There are
several citizen journalists who are active on social media platforms. Social
media users should be aware of the potential risks associated with this
technology even though it has the potential to revolutionize how humans
interact with AI. The use of ChatGPT in social media platforms can be tested
on the anvil of credibility. ChatGPT often produces responses that are
inappropriate for public consumption. Further, spreading false information is
a possibility with ChatGPT. As the AI picks up knowledge from user
interactions, it may produce false information that could spread to other
users. Moreover, this AI tool allows for the impersonation of other users.

10.2.15 Artificial Intelligence, Gatekeeping and Quality Control

Endorsing the idea of gatekeeping in user-generated content (UGC), Singer
(2010, p. 128) has already claimed,

“if there are no gates, there is no need for anyone to tend

them, unless the notion of gatekeeping, and therefore the
value of the role, is reconceptualized as being less about
story selection and more about news judgment, norms and
practices such as verification to determine the merit of what
is disseminated. In this newsroom-centric view, everyone
can be a publisher, but not everyone can be a journalist.”

When AI comes into play, there are more chances that citizen journalists will
be better weaponized with the skills to create UGC for journalistic activities.
However, the threat of poor and unverified news content can be disseminated
to the audience. So, UGC coupled with AI interventions should undergo strict
gatekeeping to keep the contents purposeful and the real participation of
citizen in journalistic activities can be mobilized and retained. However,
how the creation and engagement of UGC along with AI inputs can be
integrated into the news process remains a herculean task. It is a known fact
that in today’s digital world, the utility of UGC is not a niche function in a
mainstream newsroom, but have been influencing the practice of mainstream
journalism. The UGC and AI ought to be clearly aligned with the principles
and ethics of newsroom management. In this context, both practicing
journalists and citizen journalists ought to be aware of the above
perspectives pertaining to UGC and AI tools.

10.2.16 Artificial Intelligence, Freedom of Expression and

Dissent
Citizen journalism enhances the level of freedom of expression and
articulates the facts and information which might not be well-functioned in
mainstream media. It has brought a revolution in the sphere of information.
With the advent of various technologies including AI, citizen journalism has
been fueled to newer heights. With AI tools, citizens are able to disseminate
the information on people, events and even mishaps in no time. Moreover, the
dissemination of information is getting faster and citizen journalists are
connected to other citizen journalists and the rest of the world crossing
beyond the geographical borders. However, the accessibility of AI tools
remains restricted to citizens. Like AI, blockchain attempts to provide
several inputs for the profession of journalism to improve in its activities.
In this context, Peter Ng (2018) quotes, “The core of Civil’s journalism
protocol is built upon smart contracts written for the Ethereum blockchain.
These contracts provide interfaces to access the token curated registry,
newsroom data and other components of the marketplace.” Again, blockchain
is also not free from the critics. David Gerard, writer of the book Attack of
the 50-foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts,
argues that blockchain “is basically an add-only, tamper-free log – widely
used when it has a use case. Blockchain is a weird package of promises of
great things happening” (Erkkilä, 2019, p. 17).
Freedom of expression and dissent are the functions that an ideal media
outlet possesses to the core. These need to be fostered and provided to its
citizens. Even media outlets also need to enjoy the freedom to articulate any
issue for the sake of public interests. However, there have been shifts in
raising dissent and trending of opinion on social media (Morales, 2020).
Dissenting public or engaged citizens on online forums remains a political
participation and duty of media organizations. However, sometimes dissent
on online forums are turning into hate speech and fake news which
jeopardize the very essence and functions of journalism. It remains a
systematic blight that all the governments across the globe are striving to
curb it.
Matamoros-Fernández and Farkas (2021) highlight that the issue of racism
on social media is a complex matter and is being perpetuated in social media
contents. Citizen journalism, as an alternative forum to mainstream media,
accommodates numerous forms of digital dissent. Whatever the intentions,
politicians across the countries are banking on user-generated content (UGC)
on social media platforms. However, hate speech and fake news are being
endorsed in the name of freedom of expression, dissent and political
participation. The difference between dissent and hate speech needs to be
strictly demarcated and it should not create any chaos in the newsrooms. In
addition, dissent and hate speech should not confuse the minds of citizen
journalists.
In this context, the role of AI tools is a boon in terms of its elementary
functions. Digital dissent needs to be identified with the help of AI tools.
Citizen journalism platforms ought to be free from derogatory remarks.
Otherwise, AI in these alternative forums will only pick and multiply the
vulgar and hate speech through its algorithm mechanism, causing social and
political discontent. AI ought to filter and disseminate the UGC which will
pave the way for democratic freedom and ventilate democratic dissent.
Moreover, citizen journalism driven by public interests, is not to create
confusion or chaos in the society. Precisely, citizen journalists need to
understand that freedom of expression and dissent are the bedrock of a
democratic society.
Citizen journalists are engaged in human rights acts like the right to
privacy and freedom of expression. Technological tools like ChatGPT can
boost the voice of the voiceless. Citizen journalists can amplify their voices
and support a more diverse and inclusive media outlet by utilizing the content
generation tools like ChatGPT. However, the users’ personal information
must be protected when interacting with chatbots like ChatGPT because they
are designed to mimic human conversation. By using ChatGPT, citizen
journalists can communicate with one another and find information.
However, the chatbot could be abused to spread false information or endorse
bigotry. Chatbots like ChatGPT have the potential to completely change the
way citizen journalists communicate with one another. Hence, citizen
journalists need to use these technologies responsibly.

10.2.17 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Public Sphere

Habermas (1989) has rightly pointed out that early modern capitalism has
created the climate for bourgeois public sphere where only the elite
participate in public conversations for varied structural transformations. As a
result, the discussions pertaining to the interests of the marginalized remained
under the carpet. However, with the advent of citizen journalism which is
collaborative in nature, has paved the way for a collective public sphere.
Several alternative platforms including citizen journalism could meet the
aspirations of citizens at the margin through public discourse and public
sphere.
Nah and Chung (2020) confirm that with the very nature of collaboration,
citizen journalism is being practiced by the marginalized and democratic
consequences are being endorsed. Since technology is being used for the
mobilization and upgradation of this journalistic platform, the role of AI
tools can foster and sustain a collaborative public sphere. Since AI is based
on algorithm mechanism, collaborative public sphere through CJ will
multiply for certain collective causes. AI will fuel the presence of blogs,
video-sharing and other forms of participatory publishing which will further
boost the level of collaborative public sphere.
Habermas (1989) argues that inclusive, equitable, and civil deliberative
discourse remain fundamental to any democratic structure of a society. An
ideal public sphere attempts to bring all sorts of people and to engage them
in rational–critical discourse which is an essential part of a healthy civil
society. Habermas brings the discourse on weak and strong public sphere. A
weak public sphere is topdown whereas a strong public sphere is bottom-up
in approach. Public journalism or citizen journalism resorts to the strong
public sphere where rationally motivated conversation, or deliberation is
encouraged to attain the state of democratic decision-making and solve the
problems of the public. Also, Habermas mentions about refeudalization of
power in which public sphere seems an illusion. However, the internet as
public sphere has further propelled the situation which has pushed the
individuals and groups with numerous differences for the public discourse
with a bend of a collective action.
Like the internet, AI could be a boon which can motivate individuals and
groups with numerous differences to move for a collective action and
ultimately an inclusive, equitable, and civil deliberative discourse can be
attained. However, AI-driven citizen journalism needs to engage the citizens
in a rational–critical discourse in which a healthy civil society can be
reimagined. Refeudalization of power needs to be kept at bay in order to
place and maintain the ideal form of public sphere through AI-driven
journalism.
 The technological potential and influence of the internet have created a
new media sphere (Beers, 2006). Like the internet, AI may extend the public
sphere to a great extent as it could be a fertile ground for independent media
entities. AI-driven CJ might create a new media sphere that can increase the
level of participatory journalism and also undermine the increasing influence
of mainstream media. However, establishing the credibility and finding the
audiences from time to time will be a challenge forever.
Citizen journalists from varied social classes are engaged with the varied
nature of social media platforms and this has created a new network society
(Shirky, 2011). Since technological innovations including the advent of
ChatGPT have implications on the functioning of social media outlets, the
very nature of public sphere has changed. Citizen journalists with help from
ChatGPT have deliberated on numerous public affairs and subsequently
formed public opinion. This AI tool has redefined the state of public sphere.
Public sphere often turns to transnational public sphere which is usually less-
controlled and opens avenues for broader democratic participation.

10.2.18 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Divide

The use of AI tools for citizen journalism will create space for digital divide
as all CJs won’t be able to employ AI in creating user-generated content for
various reasons. Usually, digital divide occurs if there is a gap between
people and communities in terms of accessing information and
communication technologies. Such type of digital divide results in inequality
(Bryson, 2019) in the domain of socioeconomic, education and demographic
inequality which are also undesirable for citizen journalism advocating for
the creation of UGC. When it comes to employing AI tools for citizen
journalism, it can boost CJ in terms of reaching out to the communities. More
amount of UGC can be generated for the purpose of participatory
communication. However, this might not be possible as access and usage
illiteracy could be the barriers.
Broussard et al. (2019, p. 10) have rightly asserted, “Understanding
where AI fits into the larger cultural and historical arc of automation,
therefore, requires the study of technologies typically outside the purview of
communication, including those of industrial automation”. In this context,
citizen journalism driven by AI inputs can attempt to build a newer
relationship between the news flow and the public. The news needs to be
produced, distributed and consumed keeping the people in mind. It is
believed that tools like AR, drones, voice, image and text generation, and
wearables will empower citizen journalism platforms.
Big data have forayed into every aspect of human lives. The profession of
journalism is no exception to it. Data journalism is on the rise with the
increasing use of media technologies. Tools like Checkdesk, Logikcull,
Google Media Tools, Storify, Citizen Desk and Twitter Counter have
influence on the citizens available on digital platforms (Rampton, 2015). For
example, with the help of Citizen Desk, citizen journalists can verify the
information. Moreover, they can develop networks with other users and can
communicate with them directly through this platform. By using Twitter
Counter, citizen journalists can track the tweets and enhance the level of
engagement with the users. When one finds that the information is ready on
Twitter, Twitter Counter tends to compare several tweets and facilitates the
exact time for tweeting and ultimately used for effective engagement with the
users. With the help of certain tools, citizen journalists can do wonders and
they can enhance the level of participation. However, if these tools are
functional with AI tools only, then ordinary citizens might not have the access
and literacy to use the abovementioned tools. If this happens instead of
helping the citizens, the AI tools only add to the ugly state of digital divide
and information inequality will be undesirably hiked.
With the introduction of ChatGPT, this AI tool has raised newer
perspectives to mitigate the digital divide. Usually unlike other tools,
ChatGPT does not demand a lot of money from the citizen journalists. This
AI tool is widely available across a wide range of nations. The chatbot uses
machine learning and natural language processing to comprehend citizen
journalists’ intent and deliver the most pertinent information. This approach
has widely attempted to bridge the digital divide. However, ChatGPT has
already announced the release of a premium version that offers preferred
server access for $20 per month. When ChatGPT's server capacity is at its
limit, non-premium users won't be able to use it (Industrial Analytics
Platforms, 2023). This could possibly pose a challenge to citizen journalists
and develop a dichotomy between citizen journalists and professional
journalists and between citizen journalists in the Global South and Global
North.
10.2.19 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Dissonance
The use of AI for citizen journalism can be unlimited if citizen journalists are
capable of and have the affordability of using the technology. This will
propel the citizen journalists to produce and disseminate a huge pool of
information, intensifying the level of participatory communication. However,
an excessive flow of news information might create dissonance among the
audience. It happens when the audience finds the information going against
their ideas and understanding. Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory (CDT)
exactly covers this dimension of mental functions of human beings. A person,
who experiences cognitive dissonance, is motivated to lessen the cognitive
dissonance later (Hinojosa, Gardner, Walker, Cogliser, & Gullifor, 2016).
However, an excessive flow of information through citizen journalism
platforms with the help of AI tools will force the audience to cope and such a
situation could be mentally stressful. In this context, AI will aid in
unnecessary cognitive dissonance instead of boosting citizen journalists to
create user-generated content for the benefit of audiences.

10.2.20 Artificial Intelligence, Misinformation, Disinformation,

Fake News and Infowars
Misinformation, disinformation, fake news and Infowars remain threats to the
newsrooms and have been badly gripping the information environment. Fake
news is an impediment in the newsrooms. Jankowski (2018, p. 248 & 251)
asserts that fake news has

“acquired status as a pejorative label for liberal media

outlets, and has lost commonly accepted meaning. in the
light of the degree of attention and concern about fake news,
it is safe to anticipate an increase in scholarly attention to the
topic.”

This apart, fake news in social media has wider implications on marketing
and consumers (Di Domenico, Sit, Ishizaka, & Nunan, 2021). In addition,
infowars keep on feeding pervasive and conspiratorial injustice to society
(Van den Bulck & Hyzen, 2020). These wars fought on computer technology
to disrupt the activities reinforce the wrong and preconceived notions to the
audiences on the digital platforms. They lay stress on the perceived
credibility of infowars as a means of information.
Needless to say, infowars is not trustworthy. Madison, Wright, and
Gaspard (2020) argue that sometimes viewers tend to witness the infowars
for the dramatic and aggressive conflict rather than to derive solutions to the
problems. Moreover, viewers may employ infowars as sources of
information to lessen the level of uncertainty. Suffice to say, misinformation,
disinformation, fake news and infowars are causing numerous damages to
journalism including citizen journalism.
Whittaker (2019, p. 137) asserts, citizen journalism is

“frequently hijacked by an “alt-journalism” brigade with

Infowars being perhaps the highest-profile site
disseminating fake news across digital channels. As such, it
posed a particular problem for social media companies that
sought to present themselves as proponents of free speech
but which were also being held increasingly responsible for
the spread of disinformation. More acutely, the banning of
Infowars threw into sharp relief the power of big tech
companies to direct and even dominate the flow of
information within various public spheres.”

Citizen journalists will go bridled to check the flow of information along

with disinformation. They may not be skilled or have support mechanism to
exercise these requirements. Moreover, Finneman and Thomas (2018, p.
358) find fake news “is the intentional deception of a mass audience by
nonmedia actors via a sensational communication that appears credible but is
designed to manipulate and is not revealed to be false”. Again, with the
advent of AI, the quantum and level of information, disinformation, fake news
and infowars will gallop and the situation will deteriorate from bad to
worse. However, if a newsroom is strict in terms of execution, AI can be
instrumental in checking and filtering all sorts of ailments in information.
Then only AI-driven citizen journalism for newsrooms for mainstream media
outlets will be blissful.
Similarly, at the same time, some argue and vehemently do not agree that
infowars will fuel citizen journalism. Whittaker (2019, p. 138) underlines
that infowars do not provide

“an indication of how citizen journalism can thrive in the

new digital environment of news publishing, more how the
frontier of social media journalism allows charlatans to
flourish. The reason why so many people heard of Alex
Jones and his fake news was because of big tech and the
digital duopoly in particular.”

Since sometimes infowars are latent in digital platforms, incorporation of AI

tools for boosting citizen journalism in creating user-generated content for
the interests of the citizens may be a far-fetch goal and might be reduced to
mere idealism. The role of AI in citizen journalism will be a missing link in
the lines of pragmatism. This missing link deserves a revisit in the light of
using AI tools for citizen journalism in times of misinformation,
disinformation, fake news and infowars. ChatGPT, an AI tool, took very little
time to disrupt the functioning of journalism including citizen journalism. For
citizen journalists, ChatGPT can produce a ton of content – words, images,
sounds, and videos. Concerns about the spread of false information could
grow as AI-generated content is used more frequently. In this context, to fight
misinformation and ensure the integrity of news contents, citizen journalists
should develop strategies.

10.2.21 Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Agenda of

Politics
While assessing the connection of citizen journalism with artificial
intelligence, understanding the link of the discourse, technology and politics
comes to the fore. Robin Mansell (2012) activates the idea of imaginaries to
find out the institutionalization of the internet in the modern era. Mansell’s
scholarly works based on Charles Taylor’s idea of social imaginary
expresses the social imaginations, expectations and social existence of
people in the time of technology and internet (Asmolov, 2021). Jasanoff’s
(2015) concept of sociotechnical imaginaries automatically pops up and
tends to debate on technoscientific ventures, contemporary social
constellations, and political tones. The concept is interplay of science,
technology and society which deserves to be deliberated and analyzed. In
this context, Jasanoff (2015, p. 27) states,

“Multinational corporations increasingly act upon imagined

understandings of how the world is and ought to be, playing
upon the perceived hopes and fears of their customers and
clients and thereby propagating notions of technological
progress and benefit that cut across.”

CGNET Swara, an Indian voice-based online portal, is keen to cover the

stories of public interest. It is also interested to inform, partner, and liaise
with mainstream media outlet on certain human-interest stories. Shubhranshu
Choudhary from CGNET Swara points out,

“The working model of mainstream media in India has

shown that less than 2 percent of people in India are funding
80 percent of the media. What follows is the fact that 80
percent of the media speaks about the agendas and concerns
of 2 percent of India. That’s why we always emphasize that
if you want your information to be out and heard, you need
to own your media. Unfortunately, the media models that we
have seen so far are too expensive for communities to own.”

(Painter, 2013, p. 83)

If this is the function of the mainstream media, then the role of citizen
journalism as an alternative platform, for the interests of the communities and
marginalized has been immense. Even though citizen journalism does not
have the answer to all the questions or solutions to all the problems, the
importance of such type of journalism is there. However, when AI comes into
play, the nature and priority might change. Since the political and economy of
any media technology including AI will have influence on the structure,
priority, content and effect of media on the citizens will be always there.
Consequently, citizen journalism might be controlled and biased.
It has been discovered that ChatGPT frequently produces responses with a
strong left-leaning and libertarian political biases on political and social
issues. ChatGPT responds differently at various times. ChatGPT responses
have a left-leaning political bias. Moreover, the training data is one potential
source of bias (Brookings, 2023). Similarly, this AI tool may adversely
influence citizen journalists and their activities worldwide. ChatGPT can act
as a tool for politics. Today, misinformation and disinformation are used by
many political parties and organizations around the globe as a political tool
to advance their political agendas, shape public opinion, and polarize voters.
There is a lot of speculation about how it might revolutionize journalism,
software, and education, but not how it influences impact governmental
operations. ChatGPT will necessitate reconsidering one of the fundamental
duties of any democratic government setup (Bloomberg, 2022). If citizen
journalists use this AI tool, they should be careful of the agenda of politics
otherwise the essence of such form of alternative journalism goes haywire.

10.2.22 Gender, Citizen Journalism and Artificial Intelligence

The representations of women in media – both depictions and women
working in newsrooms – have been widely debated over the years. The
depictions of women in media have been perennially suffering in terms of
misrepresentations and underrepresentations. Tuchman (2000) finds that the
portrayals of women characters have been stereotyped. Media shows women
as dependent, inefficient and without the support of males. It symbolically
annihilates women. Further, Gallagher (2014) laments that in spite of huge
transformations in national and global media settings, the representations of
women pertaining to power, values, representation, and identity have been
under the carpet. The representations of women have been grossly damaged.
Similarly, women working in the newsrooms are not free from
stereotypes. Ogundoyin (2020) finds that women journalists tend to face
numerous challenges like manipulation, sexual harassment and marital
problems. Usually, women journalists are allowed to perform anchoring jobs
which are less challenging in nature. As a result, their self-esteem and self-
confidence are adversely affected. Further, De Vuyst and Raeymaeckers
(2019) assert that the profession of journalism has been bifurcated along
gender lines. It has been unfortunate in the lines of gender dichotomy. The
gender-related career obstacles tend to influence women journalists. They do
not enjoy the flexibility in terms of working as full-timers or part-timers or
using new communication technologies to their fullest capability.
When it comes to the gender issues manifested in the domain of citizen
journalism, Singh (2008) points out that participatory video and new media
have been powerful to bring about social change and development. The
power of citizen journalism is there in addressing gender issues. However,
there has been a dearth of scientific studies on citizen journalism and gender
issues. Since AI is increasingly used in the field of journalism, understanding
and discussing on the use of AI in citizen journalism is of paramount
importance. As the adoption of newer technologies including AI tools
demand skills, training and flexibility approach, this may not be feasible or
facilities provided for the women journalists working in the newsrooms.
Further, the adoption of AI tools among women journalists working in
developing countries and developed countries won’t be similar and this area
needs to be explored.
ChatGPT-4, an AI chatbot from OpenAI, has the power to improve and
reshape societies. However, ChatGPT maintains gender norms and
stereotypes associated with particular professions. The tool fails to translate
the gender-neutral pronoun. When given gender information in English,
ChatGPT respects Bengali (a regional language in India) words and offers
appropriately gender-marked versions of them, but it seems to show more
respect for men than for women who work in the same field (Ghosh &
Caliskan, 2023). The root cause of gender biases in generative AI is the use
of unrepresentative or even questionably moral datasets that are made
available in the public domain, even though the specific information
processing by LLMs using deep neural networks tends to perpetuate these
biases. The training datasets for generative AI have been known to contain
explicit imagery and defamatory stereotypes, leading to the kind of outputs
mentioned above (Observer Research Foundation, 2023).
 Women are underrepresented in the research and design of digital
technologies, their needs and experiences are also ignored by designers, and
the data used to train AI is frequently biased against women and girls. Only
20% of machine learning company employees in technical roles, 13% of all
researchers in artificial intelligence, and 6% of licensed software
developers are female (UNESCO, 2022). In this context, Audrey Azoulay
UNESCO Director-General asserts, “There is an urgent need to rebalance the
situation for women in AI to avoid biased analyzes and to build technologies
that take into account the expectations and needs of all of humanity”
(UNESCO, 2022). The above scenario which is scary, biased and disparity
in nature, has larger implications on citizen journalism. Citizen journalists
while using ChatGPT for their journalistic activities on gender-related
issues, must be aware of the issue. Collaboration in regulation is urgently
required to resolve the problem.

10.2.23 Artificial Intelligence, Technological Advancements and

Participatory Journalism
Blockchain, a newer form of technology, is disruptive in nature and has
started influencing socio-economic, technological and legal dimensions of
society. Such form of decentralized technologies in the light of disruptive
implications needs to be debated. And the profession of journalism is not
exception to it. Currently, there have been deliberations on the implications
of blockchain to make journalism more robust and sustainable business.
Debates are also there whether blockchain-enabled newsrooms can compete
with traditional centralized model of newsrooms.
There is a need to examine the socioeconomic, technological and legal
consequences of blockchain on mainstream journalism in general and citizen
journalism in particular. Needless to say, blockchain has started providing
solutions to various media related issues in the existing media ecosystem.
However, citizen journalism is an alternative platform of journalism where
participation of citizens is the bedrock of journalistic functions. The factors
like monetization, discourse of rights, participation, gratification and identity
have the bearings on the use of blockchains in citizen journalism. Similarly,
metaverse will go for testing whether this form of convergence of physical
and virtual worlds will be a boon or bane for creating citizen journalism of
public values in the future. Future-proof your newsroom for the metaverse is
the larger talking points. However, it needs to be examined on the anvil of
citizen journalism which cares for the interests of the citizens. Last not the
least, future media trends will determine and decide how these newer forms
of technologies like ChatGPT, blockchain, metaverse, nonfungible tokens
(NFTs), and computer-generated imagery will work along with AI tools.

10.3 Concluding Remarks

The concept of citizen journalism has emerged when the whole world was
exploring alternative platforms against mainstream media outlets. Sometimes
citizen journalism is competing with mainstream media and sometimes user-
generated content is complementary for the mainstream media. Evidences
have revealed that citizen journalism has influenced the agenda of traditional
media entities (Luo & Harrison, 2019). Since artificial intelligence has
forayed into almost all the professions including journalism, the ecology of
news media is gradually undergoing changes. AI is newly getting introduced
and making its space in mainstream media. Therefore, comparative
perspectives on the use of AI in citizen journalism are the only way forward.
The ecology of news media on these alternative narratives will ceaselessly
debate on gratification approach of the audience, business perspectives,
journalistic identity, digital humanism, democratization of media contents,
gender perspectives and the emergence of new communication technologies
like metaverse, blockchain, NFTs, computer-generated imagery and
ChatGPT. The future of citizen journalism is bright as long as such form of
journalism adheres to ethics, credibility and journalistic spirit for the
interests of the citizens.

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11 Socio-cultural and Economic
Implications of Artificial
Intelligence on Society

Understanding the Mediating Role of

Journalism
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-11

11.1 Introduction
Culture is reflected in a society's values, traditions, and actions. Through
people, culture probes itself to reflect a variety of perspectives, actions, and
values as well as the spread of technology. Technology has an incredible
influence on several fundamental aspects of our civilizations, including
language, art, mobility, education, and religion. A community's culture serves
as a standard for comprehending, judging, and continuously evaluating
technology (Alombert, 2019). Technology determines the course and
development of culture over a period of time. For the betterment of society,
technology should strike a balance with the sociocultural indicators of
society.
The impact of technology on tradition remains an important dimension
which needs to be discussed. Tradition and technology continuously pose
challenges in community lives. The globe has become a global village as a
result of technology and globalization. It takes us back in time to consider
modern living without electricity, transport, and other luxuries like health
(Singh & Germine, 2021). Economic, engineering and other breakthroughs
have been made. Thanks to technological innovations. The development of
technology has contributed greatly to the advancement of the 21st century.
Tradition style thrives when its value is recognized. Technology fosters
changes, but should not erase the mark of heritage blindly. Given this,
technology can assist in maintaining tradition.
The impact of technology on social values needs to be critically
understood. There is now a vast range of topics that can be discussed. a
variety of technologies are to thank. Any topic can be thoroughly explained to
the people, and more information has been effectively shared. The
establishment of new social classes and economic transformation are also
aided by technology (Jyoti Francis & Bhaduri, 2021). Technology aids in
building and improving interpersonal relationships. Technology paves the
way for integrating modernity and traditional knowledge. For example, the
marriage of traditional craft with judicious amount of machine (sewing
machines) used is fostering creativity with social values. Even though when
sewing machines are employed, craftsmen are being engaged in placement
and maneuvering of components of Chandua (applique) craft from the town of
Pipli in the state Odisha, located in the eastern part of India.
People tend to employ technological tools to interact with others in a
given social milieu. However, it is debated that development of certain new
technologies has been responsible for the failure of traditional media.
Appropriate technological improvements have resulted in sluggish and
machine-dependent human population. Bombs, nuclear weapons and missiles
are all made possible by technology. In the course of demands and realities,
technological innovations and adoption keep on stimulating societal norms.
Fast technological changes without societal thought and norms are to blame
for shifting social and cultural divides.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one technology which could bring radical
changes in society. We have been able to disseminate vast amount of
knowledge and data from one to one and from many to many. Thanks to
digitalization of knowledge. Moreover, thanks to the cornucopia of intensely
private information that has emerged in course of time from the purposeful
tying of a significant segment of society to the internet. Here, we can employ
it not only to work with human expertise, but also to create new information
and functions with machine-based computing. The use of technology
including AI needs to be thoughtful. It is vital to consider the social and
cultural effects of modern communication technologies, their nature,
restrictions, and circumstances, as well as their positive and negative effects.
It is also vital to consider the humanizing perspectives of fundamental
principles covering the dimensions of liberty, equality, fraternity, solidarity,
tolerance and cultural diversity. In a developing country like India,
sometimes tradition, cultural and social values of technologies are going
together. In Odisha, a state located in the eastern part of India, tarakasi woks
(silver filigree) remains a rich identity of the region, indicating the well
blend of tradition and technology. Tarakasi woks from the city of Cuttack in
Odisha have been widely accepted in the South-Asian countries. This craft
has become a cultural indication of the state. Similarly, Chandua (applique)
craft from the state of Odisha in India has been promoting man and a meagre
amount of machine uses. Chandua crafts from the state, inspiring tale of rural
creativity is the indication of using hand machines with many cultural values
of India. Therefore, from tarakasi works to highly mechanized industry
based on AI tools needs to focus on value systems.
When any technological developments and their connection to culture,
tradition and social values are accounted, the role of journalism is immense
in communicating their implications on the society to the masses (Belfiore,
2018). It can be the tarakasi works from Odisha or major industrial
establishments in the US, China andthe UK where AI is heavily used and is
driving the show. In this context, journalism too has the role of disseminating
culture, tradition and social values of varied technologies in a ceaseless
manner.

11.2 Media Activism, Artificial Intelligence and Journalism

Media activism employs the means of communication tools for initiating
sociocultural and economic movements. Carrying news on websites,
producing audio and video investigations, disseminating information about
protests, and organizing campaigns pertaining to media and communications
policies are all instances of media activism techniques. Media activism
serves a variety of functions. It is frequently used by anarchists and
grassroots activists to disseminate information that is unavailable in
mainstream media or to share news articles that have been eventually
blocked or reduced to the minimum. Media activity also includes certain
types of politically motivated hacks and internet-based efforts. Media
activism is usually aimed at raising awareness through media
communication, which in some cases leads to action.
Social movements are the nexus of numerous media genres, technologies,
and forms that duly take on the hegemonic power. In many respects, these
media are the pulse of such movements. Collective communication
techniques that oppose and take on the status quo, including mainstream
media, are known as media activism. These media frequently receive less
funding and their lifespans are considerably shorter than those of capitalist,
government-funded or religiously supported media. They are part of the much
bigger continent known as alternative media and citizens' media (Downing,
2018). When there is social unrest or a crisis, their roles may occasionally
overlap with those of the traditional media. Both social movements and their
media initiatives experience ups and downs. However, it is necessary for the
revival of social movements for some of these forms of media activism to
continue between the peaks of movement activism.
Media activism enables marginalized groups to unite and make their
voices heard in larger groups, enabling more autonomous activism to witness
social change. This enables more people to participate in some movements
online rather than in person and provides leaders with a free means of
organizing. On the contrary, there is disagreement on its effectiveness as this
is also a popular method of activism that celebrities use (Williams, 2022).
One disagreement against media activism is that since everyone has a voice,
whether it be one person or many, extremists can completely derail the
movement by sounding as loud as the average person.
Social media activism is another form of media activism. Given that
people in a society that is digitally networked are frequently exposed to
divisive topics, it is crucial to understand how people use social media
platforms for activism and how this interacts with offline activism. Thanks to
technological innovations. Since artificial intelligence tools are used being in
social media outlets, the implications of such tools are there. Therefore,
media activism is getting connected with AI techniques. Tech giants are vying
with one another for authority in AI development. Unfortunately, they
frequently fail to distinguish between right and wrong in doing so. Here's
where moral AI and ethics enter the picture. Ethical attributes to artificial
intelligence that abides by the rules and norms relating to core values which
include privacy, non-discrimination, rights, and morals. We human beings,
frequently overlook the potential and alarming long-term effects of these
technologies while marveling at the AI advancements made by industry
titans. AI activities play a key role in fostering such kind of critical thinking
on varied subjects. AI-based activism needs to be conducted in a
circumstantial manner. In India, for instance, understanding and deliberating
on gender, class and region will open up numerous doors for activism. Those
who support AI have been outspoken in their opposition to its unethical
applications. Therefore, news needs to be disseminated and create platforms
for discussions. Hence, discussing AI activism remains important and
newsrooms in particular and journalism in general should proactively work
on these dimensions.

11.2.1 Community Media, Artificial Intelligence and Journalism

A media which caters to the needs and demands of a community is called
community media. It is an alternative and participatory media practice that
has emerged in the context of grassroots journalism. It is a radical approach
to mainstream journalistic practices (Deuze, 2006). Community media
contributes to civic education and social awareness campaigns. Access and
participation play a significant role in the development of community media.
Media creators are urged to get involved in providing people a stage on
which to voice or articulate their opinions. Such type of community media is
frequently given parameters, but its ambiguous organizational structure
frequently pushes against these limits.
Community media is distinguished as an alternative to social media and
public and commercial media by their participation in and accountability to
the communities they serve. They facilitate open forums for debates and
discussions and place more emphasis on regional concerns. UNESCO is a
significant supporter of independent community media that is operated by and
for the community. Especially, for remote and difficult-to-reach groups,
community radio remains a medium of importance for offering an outreach
tool for enhanced access to education, self-expression, and communication.
Such stations provide the local people a sense of ownership over their own
development plans, empowering them to speak out in public, engage in
discussion, and promote their own culture, history, and language (UNESCO,
2021a). So far as the sustainability of community media, it is important to
support its long-term viability through policies and strategies which
precisely cover the legal recognition, equitable spectrum and licensing
access, sustainable funding sources, and inclusion in decisions regarding the
digital transition.
Engaging AI-driven systems to involve regional communities in
formulating strategies or addressing and coming up with solutions to urgent
societal and environmental problems is the emerging landscape of community
media. Multiple parties with conflicting objectives are frequently involved in
such local or regional contexts. Through cocreation and field deployment, it
is necessary to ascertain whether AI models and pipelines can perform as
anticipated in various scenarios (Hsu et al., 2022). However, difficulties are
there where more attention and offer workable solutions are to connect AI
research with citizen demands based on case-based evidence in cocreating
AI-powered technologies with localities. With the aim to create AI-powered
systems in a multistakeholder context to solve local problems, promoting the
development of new collaboration techniques and attitudes has become
essential.
Through the use of new technologies and services' creative and
participatory potential, media literacy enables us to interact with others in
the public realm. With the advent of AI tools, media creation and choices are
being influenced. It is slowing making the content consumers in the process
of production and thereby making the sense of participation visible. This is
the very essence and property of community media. However, the power of
the AI systems created in this manner to function as planned in various
regional contexts while also empowering locals is still an unresolved
subject. How can scientists collaborate with local populations to develop AI
systems that address regional issues? This needs to be answered.
There is a need to understand and articulate problems in utilizing AI to
collect and interpret community data, adapt AI tools for persistent social
change, and co-design AI systems with locals through case studies. Studies
are to be conducted in collecting information on how to connect citizen
demands with AI research, including how to assess the social implications of
AI tools, gather community information for AI expansion, and create AI
outlets that can be used to explain data patterns to nonexperts. Traditional
media will be interested in making technology support democratic values
while also learning how such AI technology effects public dialogue for the
benefit of individuals, communities, and society. In this context, journalism
outlets should be deliberated in the public discourse on community media in
the light of AI. Journalists should understand and discuss the sociocultural
implications of AI on community media.

11.2.2 Democratization of Content, Artificial Intelligence and

Journalism
A sociological understanding of the media as a frame for communication
reveals a complex issue that influences how the media is perceived and
understood in the light of recent shifts in societal patterns. Internet and other
interactive media outlets offer a diversity of information from many different
sources and present chances for social and political debates at the local,
national, and international levels. A variety of communication options also
demonstrate the plurality of media environments, facilitating faster
information flow.
The process of transforming and democratizing media space and content is
where media research is operationalized (Olavarria-Gambi & Levick,
2023). Plenty of information sources, as well as described changes in social
and political communication, are the outcomes of the internet’s development
as a new media and the online sphere as a digital communication space.
Through the internet’s development, a greater variety of online portals and
media content – or, more precisely, a variety of topics and styles – creates a
space for a conversation. As a result, we can apparently debate on media
pluralism and interpret the mediated communication space in multiple ways,
while conceptualizing the shifts and processes in modern society and culture
in the context of the democratization and transformation of the media
(Stoycheff, Burgess, & Martucci, 2020).
Precisely, the internet, a more prevalent and significant factor in
individuals’ lives and social congregations, fosters the reconceptualization
for communication meant for social and cultural ties. With its interactive
features and capacity for discussion and dialogue, the internet can be used as
a tool to reanimate the public domain. Deliberations in this connection are
driven towards changing the conversational environment such that the internet
as a communication medium takes on a central role. Finally, the media
space's diversity comes as a result of the democratization of the media and
the creation of new media. In such a social structure, web portals with their
distinctive reporting on various topics offer pertinent information and, when
viewed from a certain angle, can support conversation among interested
parties. Such media-related developments have become the focus of current
social discussions as well as sociological studies and analysis.
The world has been witnessing content democratization, a phenomenon
that was earlier unidentified. Massive amounts of digital content are
produced, traded, and consumed by the public as of now. Thanks to the web
and the sizable content marketing system. The democratization of content has
given the content several ways to reach consumers. Numerous types of
materials are securing certain consumer demographics. This has enabled the
customers to have the option to hand-pick content to suit their tastes, similar
to what happens when they stream media from mainstream services. One can
now obtain content at any time and from any location. Thanks to the
democratization of access to the contents.
The advancement of democratic values via the dissemination of
information and communication is a significant element in the realm of media
democracy, as is the empowerment of individual citizens (Exoo, 2009). This
approach also argues that media systems should be democratic in their own
design, avoiding corporate ownership and rigid rules. Media democracy
means that both the media itself should be democratic and that it should be
utilized to further democracy. For instance, it considers the ownership
concentration of media to be undemocratic and ineffective at promoting
democracy, making it a media feature that has to be critically analyzed
(Hazen & Winokur, 1997). In addressing persistent media monopoly and
decline in moral values, both the idea and the social movements supporting it
have expanded. It recognizes the role that media plays in influencing culture
as a medium with the ability to reach a big audience.
Social media functions as per AI tools. AI-based social media can act as
a democratic tool with emancipatory potential. Social media has become a
crucial forum for online users to argue and discuss issues. Since it may be a
tremendously useful instrument for amplifying the silenced and oppressed
voices, it has also evolved into a forum for activism. Social media cannot
only be categorized as having a negative or positive effect on democracies
and the institution of democracy since its overall effects on democracies are
multifaceted. However, pragmatic educational pedagogy nurtures
watchfulness and critical thinking abilities which can further guarantee a
good impact of AI on society. In this context, journalism can be sensible
enough to understand this perspective and propagate it among the citizens in a
seamless manner. Socio-cultural implications of AI through social media in
democratizing the content remains important that media should understand
and subsequently critically cover these aspects.

11.2.3 News Agency, Artificial Intelligence and Changing

Dynamics in News Flow
A news agency gathers news and provides it to varied news outlets. Often a
news agency is known as communications service or news service. Global
media play a key role in today's globalization, fostering instant
communication and endorsing the experience of global connection (Bielsa,
2008). In this context, the role of news agency in disseminating information
based on events of global nature. However, the role and functioning of news
agencies have undergone changes with the upgradations in technological
upgradations including artificial intelligence.
With the proliferation of AI tools in newsroom management, the
automation of news content is being executed. There are certain instances
which reveal that global news media houses and small news agencies
automate their news content (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism,
2023). Over the past decade, AI tools have gradually become more common
in the media and in the newsrooms of news agencies. This growing trend has
sparked a heated debate about the negative effects of journalism, especially
quality standards and ethical principles. However, such tools improve the
skills of journalists by saving time, simplifying news production processes
and thus increasing the productivity of the media industry. Precisely, these
tools enhance the performance and reach of news agencies worldwide.
However, there is a need to change the way of thinking in the media ecology.
In addition, the users need to be educated to bridge the gap in knowledge and
skills for the proper use of technologies .
News Wire and The Associated Press compiled 300 articles from
quarterly company earnings reports into 3,700 articles using artificial
intelligence. At present, the AP newsroom’s AI technology automatically
produces approximately 40,000 stories a year – only a fraction of the stories
produced by a global news agency, but the benefits of using AI and
automation are numerous (Gruber, 2023). Additionally, AI improves the
efficiency and accuracy of news. In China, the Xinhua news agency has
employed artificial intelligence anchors to deliver news (Analytics Insight,
2022). These digital anchors can operate 24/7, allowing the news agency to
deliver real-time news. They also deliver news in multiple languages, which
expands the reach of the news agency. In some news agencies, AI tools are
used to verify news articles to ensure that published information is accurate
and unbiased. This reduces the workload of journalists and allows them to
focus on more in-depth reporting.
The Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency's recent partnership with
Facebook uses AI algorithms and user feedback to authenticate news content.
The AFP uncovers fake news on a daily basis. At the Associated Press (AP)
news agency, AI is essentially assisting to free up journalists to create
valuable content; they also created a job automation group in AP. Bots also
writes summaries of stories in the agency newsroom. At financial
management service in Bloomberg News, automation helps them write
thousands of stories a week from untapped financial data. AI tools help
Bloomberg, a news agency, to be very fast with the latest news and to
automate thousands of translations of these articles into several languages.
The news agency now describes itself as an information and technology
company rather than a media company because of AI tools. AI algorithms
alert Bloomberg journalists to important stories and information; it correlates
data, but it has its limitations. The editor checks the content twice and create
stories around AI data (White, 2019). However, the eruption of ethical issues
indicate ceaseless effort to monitor and control the use of AI tools.

11.2.4 Digital Disobedience, Artificial Intelligence and

Journalism
Civil disobedience is a sign of protest that is always integral to the
collective ability to express dissent. Protests and the expression of agitation
are central parts of freedom of expression, and they influence the formation
of society and public discourse throughout history. Over the centuries,
individuals and groups have used many tactics to reclaim rights and fight for
justice. With the changing times and the incorporation of technologies,
protests and disobedience have been radically changed. Digital civil
disobedience is being used by global citizens to reclaim their rights.
At the same time, new digital tools and tactics offer significant
opportunities for the future of civil rights. Today, we are witnessing the
dramatic emergence of digital transgression, broadly defined here as
politically motivated violations of internet laws (Scheuerman, 2016).
Moreover, with the advent of artificial intelligence, civil rights are
undergoing shifts in many ways. The impact of AI technologies on
civilization and its allied affairs is ardently challenged. Many claim that AI
will be indispensable for human’s everyday life. At the same time, many
argue that AI challenges human values, identity, jobs and creativity. AI
unnecessarily disrupts the creative value chain in two ways – by giving
individual creators more power and by transferring tasks previously handled
by the people to algorithms. AI-generated content raises questions about
authorship, ownership, and copyright violations. To effectively encourage
innovation and research, new exclusive rights on datasets must be chalked
out and created. The employment of AI in media material is causing huge
concerns about language and cultural diversity. To stop discrimination in
distribution platforms powered by AI, public policies and procedures need
to be reframed.
Individuals' distinctive cultural values have an impact on how they learn
in daily life. AI that mimics the decision-making processes of its users may
eventually start to exhibit those users' cultural values. With classifying
images, creating sounds, or producing texts and with the highest performance,
AI is frequently and more mistakenly viewed in this context as neutral. AI, on
the other hand, bases its predictions on data that captures sociocultural
expressions as they are expressed by music, films, photos, text, and social
interactions, which are profoundly context-specific and nonneutral.
Consequently, the extensive application of AI tools depends heavily on
culture. Precisely, if AI is not used wisely, it may cause digital disobedience.
Analyzing the evolution of AI will enable one to comprehend not only its
development and implications for philosophical and scientific communities,
but also its repercussions in a broader sociocultural environment. Since the
job of journalism is to bring awareness the abovementioned dimensions of
AI tools can be disseminated to the masses.
11.2.5 Social Relationships, Artificial Intelligence and
Journalism
Matrimonial websites are now requesting for technical assistance to assist
you in finding your true mate. The process of looking for a life partner on
matrimonial websites has been advanced so far. Thanks to the usage of
artificial intelligence by marriage portals to identify and suggest potential
partners for its members (The Economic Times, 2019). On matrimonial
websites, AI algorithms assist the users in searching for their preferred
partners by analyzing and comprehending the online activities and proposing
suitable profiles in real time. Partner and relationship are being matched up
with AI techniques. AI is all set to now find your ideal partner.
AI has finally entered the Indian matching market. By considering six
relationship characteristics, including emotional, intellectual, relationship,
and moral values, AI hopes to transform the way conventional matching sites
in India provide matches. In order to provide matches, a machine learning
method will be used, along with other factors. Needless to say, this
eliminates the need for you to search through hundreds of irrelevant matches.
Besides finding an ideal partner for someone, matching algorithms in online
dating have come to the fore. From early 2000s, online dating sites to modern
dating apps, matching algorithms have been progressed significantly and are
still growing. AI Algorithms are able to provide personalized
recommendations to the users. AI is able to provide better and safer better
relations in real time. A feminist dating app known for its cutting-edge design
elements that defy accepted gender stereotypes, has started utilizing AI to
address harassment of women on the platform (Bumble, 2021). Due to these
fast-paced developments, it is critical to think about how algorithms may
significantly modify the long history of online dating in the years to come.
Now, algorithms are providing match through matrimony sites and love
through dating sites. However, whether these are socially and culturally
viable, whether they are genuine or fake in approach, these have become the
larger talking points for discussions in terms of socio-cultural implications of
AI. Since journalism has the role of social responsibility, it can create
awareness on these dimensions at regular intervals. As a result, human
society can harvest the fruits of technological interventions by mitigating the
evil effects of technologies including AI in particular. Let’s journalism
outlets should understand and work upon it.

11.3 Concluding Remarks

Socio-cultural implications of communication technologies like metaverse,
blockchain, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), computer-generated imagery (CGI)
including artificial intelligence tools are important and hence debatable.
Metaverse is a universal and immersive virtual platform, equipped with
virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). A blockchain, a digital
ledger technology (DLT), facilitates as a catalyst for transformations. Using
blockchain technology for digital utility is immense. NFTs can be in the form
of artworks and real estate. NFTs can also act to embody a person’s identity,
property rights, and the like. This apart, NFTs can gain extensive attention in
the segment of popular culture and news media. In the field of journalism,
news articles are getting sold out in the form of NFTs. Precisely, NFTs could
move towards the solution in bringing a newer ownership pattern. CGI is the
incorporation of computer graphics for creative productions in the form of
art, audio, visual and computer animation required for creative and allied
industries. ChatGPT, an AI tool, has brought revolutions in society. ChatGPT
can craft write poems, songs and short stories for us. By collecting and
analyzing massive amounts of data and information, ChatGPT can save a lot
of time and effort in understanding user comments and social media
discussions and narratives. In this context, the sociocultural implications of
these technologies on human society need to be discussed in a critical
manner. Hence, the mediating role of journalism in examining and
understanding the importance, utility and shortcomings of these technologies
on human society remains vital and can be tested on the anvil of public
interest. The role of journalism cannot be undermined at any cost.
The socio-cultural implications of all the technologies including AI are
quite apparent. As AI learns the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of
its user, it may begin to resemble that individual. Even while AI may be an
artefact in and of itself, it's interesting to note that the cognitions and actions
it incorporates may be beginning to resemble those of its culturally oriented
users. If so, AI that takes in the decision-making processes of its users may
culturally diverge. Even though it is only an artefact, depending on the
cultural backgrounds of their users, decision-making processes of AI may
differ, just as users' actions do between cultures.
Depending heavily on the users' cultural backgrounds, relationship
problems in terms of not maintaining quality may advance during ongoing
interactions between AI and its potential users. We need to mind that
adoption and use decisions should not be confused with emergent usage
patterns because the former concentrates on the longitudinal dynamics of use
behaviors while the latter focuses only on an adoption and use decision at an
initial moment. Since AI and its users are likely to be involved in usual
business operations in business units, AI may be able to comprehend a user's
preferences and offer suggestions for recommendations that correspond to
those preferences, making the identification of new usage patterns
particularly crucial. However, users may not completely rely on AI due to
their history and cultural characteristics, even if AI can validate users'
predicted decisions.
Currently, creative AI technologies are being heavily used. AI tools are
increasingly being used in the arts including music, literature, and visual arts.
The development and application of this technology is being rushed by many
artists and AI developers, and certain parties are profiting financially. There
is no doubt that technological advancements like photography, sound
recording, and the internet have had a huge impact on the arts. The
widespread monetization of art, which goes beyond reproduction and
distribution and engages in automating the creation of works of art by
copying, fusing, and extending already-existing artistic styles, is to be
brought to the forefront by AI (creative-AI). Considerable amount of research
into the effects of creative AI on the arts still needs to be conducted. Reliable
AI systems for ethical and sustainable applications in the domain of creative
fields remain a matter of debate and concern as well.
The emergence of AI needs to be treated as a social phenomenon that
interacts with the larger social, cultural, economic, and political contexts.
Sociologists are gradually investigating into the social creation, diffusion,
and consumption of AI. Some sociologists discuss this in the context of
science and technology which have produced the majority of the extant
literature on the subject. However, several opine that it is not always simple
to read the literature and connect their research interests in AI to the existing
stock of knowledge.
UNESCO (2021b) has rightly asserted that despite the positives and
negatives of technology, it has attempted to improve the community lives of
people worldwide. It has succeeded in bringing people together across the
globe. Technology could mitigate the social, cultural and economic barriers
to some extent. The power of technology has reached and influence the
community lives from local to global arena. Overall, technologies should be
aiming for socio-economic and cultural development on a global scale.
Precisely, designing AI policies should prioritize the people first.
Designing AI policies should follow inclusiveness. Experts in artificial
intelligence and decision-makers address inclusiveness in the creation of AI
policies. Designing AI policies should engage multiple stakeholders. The
policies need to be debated in the prism of human rights, legal and regulatory
frameworks so that sociocultural implications of AI can be harvested. Most
importantly, journalism must be vigilant and keep on informing the civil
society about AI in persistent manner. This will make both journalism and AI
inclusive in approach. Apart from AI, journalism needs to discuss the
technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, metaverse, blockchain,
nonfungible tokens (NFTs), computer-generated imagery immersive
technologies and ChatGPT as these technologies have started influencing
human beings in particular and society in general.
Nevertheless, disinformation campaigns or fake news and hacking have
become pervasive as social media is ruling the entire world. AI tools have
amplified the space of disinformation and provided room for hacking.
Automated hacking is also riding high day by day. AI and machine learning
are being employed to cause cyberattacks on our computer systems. This may
result in physical attacks by antisocial elements. Criminals, terrorists and
other persons with devilish intents can misuse AI tools for disinformation
and hacking. AI must not dictate human beings which is right or wrong in
terms of socio-cultural and traditional values. Equity in terms of socio-
cultural implications of technologies should not be considered as tokenism.
Tellingly, journalism needs to comprehend the socio-cultural implications of
AI through placing judicious reportage and inviting popular opinion columns
for public discourse.
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12 Incorporation of Artificial
Intelligence into Newsrooms

Negotiating with Newer Ethical

Issues and Responsibilities in
Journalism
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-12

12.1 Introduction
John M. Culkin’s (1967, p. 70) visionary observation “We shape our tools,
and thereafter our tools shape us” still holds relevance in the age of digital,
innovation and transformation. It broadly highlights the fundamentals of
human technologies and their implications on society. Culkin’s visionary
observation can be quite apt while investigating the ethical issues because of
the incorporation of communication technologies in the journalistic process.
Technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages. If a technology
has disadvantages from certain perspectives, it raises ethical issues to the
core. The use of technologies has caused varied concerns in almost all fields
including journalism.
Ethics in journalism remains vital for all the times when we try to
interject the role of technologies in the field of journalism. Without being
committed to ethical standards, journalism cannot be trusted. Things will be
similar, if the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in newsroom or journalism is
not ethical, it won’t be trusted and hence, it is not sustainable in nature. In
contemporary times, it is often hard to practice an absolute form of ethical
journalism. Currently, news media is languishing in several issues like paid
news, excessive advertising-driven and politically motivated. The political
economy of news media has identified the flaws in the industry of news
media. In this light, the discussions often hover around the areas covering
capitalism and capitalist economy – wage labor and production for profit;
concentration of media ownership; support mechanism; government policies;
globalization; regulation; and neoliberalism. The political economy of news
media can also be directed and tested in the light of using AI and machine
learning in the journalistic practice.
Precisely stressing on the aspect of support mechanism, Olsen (2021)
attempts to find out the perils of a revenue structure for digital journalism in
which advertising continues to add to the revenue of digital news media. The
excessive reliance on advertising revenue is an ethical issue which is often
debated from time to time. Further, the use of AI and machine learning in
journalism brings the discussion on propaganda which largely touches upon
the dimensions of size, ownership of news medium; funding sources for news
media; flak; and anticommunism ideology. Currently, the field of journalism
is facing certain external pressures starting from politics to business
(Hiltunen, 2022). Societal and political polarizations are systemically
influencing the journalistic output. Societal and political polarizations are
apparently affecting the process of news. Journalism is becoming more
partisan and political communication in nature than before. The news
industry is increasingly prone to political affairs and financial transactions or
trading.
The scourge of fake news tends to plague the news media industry
(Kleinman & Moore, 2014). Molina, Sundar, Le, and Lee (2021, p. 180)
point out fake news “as a concept, has ballooned to include more than simply
false information, with partisans weaponizing it to cast aspersions on the
veracity of claims made by those who are politically opposed to them”. Paid
news is a malady in the news media. It is curtailing the power of news which
can be a concern for the marginalized sections of society. It is also narrowing
down the democratic public sphere (Patching & Hirst, 2021). These are the
larger ideological perspectives on news media. Hence, critical
understanding of news media from ethical perspectives is of utmost
importance.
 Suffice to say, the profession of journalism is ceaselessly undergoing
transformations. Technological innovations have bearings on the process of
journalism. All agree on one point that necessity is the mother of invention.
There is no doubt that inventions especially communication technologies
including AI and machine learning have the implications on the journalistic
process. ChatGPT is the latest addition to the technological innovations in
the field of journalism. ChatGPT is a language-modelled chatbot that
generates human-like responses. Once published, conversations about
ChatGPT spread like wildfire across traditional and social media.
Conversations recorded and analyzed during the observation period indicate
that the initial enthusiasm for ChatGPT's automated capabilities quickly gave
way to concerns about its potential abuse and potential to replace human
workstations. ChatGPT as a brand has gotten mixed reactions. Engineers,
entrepreneurs, journalists and many social media users see ChatGPT as a
bold innovation that opens up the horizons of services and solutions, but the
academic and creative industries are concerned and threatened by the latest
AI chatbots.
In general, technological innovations are imperative as societies need
them for thriving and evolving. For societies to thrive and evolve,
technological innovations have become necessary. Technologies tend to
upgrade the manner in which the societies behave and function. Therefore,
technological innovations and societies cannot be detached from each other.
However, the use of technologies has germinated the issues of ethics.
Currently, the arrival of AI tools considered a revolution in the field of
technological innovations. And the field of journalism is also not free from
ethical concerns.

12.2 Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Issues in

Journalism
AI is an application of machinery entities. The machine-driven actions are
dependent on the intentions of human beings. It accordingly functions with the
direction, command or will of human beings. Therefore, AI techniques can be
used for good or bad causes. The use of AI in haste may invite the issues of
digital propaganda, extreme or hate speech, disinformation or fake news and
hacking (Flores Vivar, 2019), dilution in privacy, creation of disparities,
faulty automation process, minimizing human interactions, unemployment,
cultural challenge, excessive commercial interests, conflict of byline or
credit of authorship and other allied issues which have been manifested in
the journalistic process in some way or other.

12.2.1 Artificial Intelligence and Digital Propaganda

Jowett and O’Donnell (2018 p. 7) define propaganda as “the deliberate,
systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions and direct
behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the
propagandist”. These days, digital propaganda is infamously impacting the
newsrooms and the overall society as well. AI techniques are being heavily
employed for digital propaganda. The politicians are resorting to every
possible thing to triumph in their electoral battles. The political consultants
and digital strategists along with the technocrats are responsible for
malicious use of AI tools. AI tools through old pictures and videos are being
exploited to cause political propaganda which has sheer destructive impacts
on the society. Divisive content, used in political communication, is cheaper
than good content. Contents in the lines of propaganda are being massively
amplified. Suffice to say, AI-driven digital contents are more dangerous than
the propaganda which is manually driven. Knowing the fact that digital has
the power and ability to shape up the voice of the public, information
warfare books are getting digitally crafted.
Deepfakes are being used for various forms of manipulation by using AI
and machine learning. Deepfakes, otherwise known as synthetic media, can
be used for blackmailing any individual. They can be used for creating
pornography of female celebrities. They can be employed for
misrepresenting noted politicians’ opinions and statements in the format of
videos. Deepfakes have been an increasing threat for newsrooms worldwide.
Deepfakes driven by AI tools have the power to manipulate the text, audio
and video.
Deepfakes powered by AI technologies were allegedly used in the UK
general election. Also, deepfake videos were allegedly used in the 2020 U.S.
elections. It is observed that deepfake videos have the ability to create an
extra appeal and convincing power because of advancements in the field of
Generative Adversarial Networks, which enhance reaching out to the voters.
In actual sense, deepfake videos remain far from reality. Deepfakes are being
used for creating fake political statements that no political leaders have ever
opined (Sohrawardi & Wright, 2020). AI tools are being used to create fake
experts or journalists who can amply persuade the public for malicious
intent. Malevolent agents are employing deepfakes to disseminate extreme
forms of propaganda. Detecting the real out of deepfakes and disinformation
has become a herculean task for journalists.
Internet memes are coming out with the use of deepfakes. Deepfake
photographs can be employed to generate sock puppets which are fake
identities in endorsing someone or something on digital platforms including
social media. Deepfakes are being employed for producing nonconsensual
pornography which has potentially warned the newsrooms. In the past, to
strategize propaganda, human interventions were desperately needed
(DiResta, 2020). It was quite cumbersome and time-consuming. So, the pace
of propaganda was slow. However, in this digital arena, especially in the
times of AI and machine learning; writing tweets, posts, sharing and
resharing the message for the purpose of propaganda are being strategized at
lightning speed.

12.2.2 Artificial Intelligence and Extreme or Hate Speech

Extreme or hate speech on online platforms is an increasing challenge for
democratic societies across the globe. There is an intersection of
misinformation and social media hate in this digital times. Matamoros
Fernández (2018, p. 933) argues that social media is mobilizing “racist
dynamics through their affordances, policies, algorithms and corporate
decisions”. Banaji and Bhat (2022) point out that hate on digital platforms is
linked to socio-political contexts and value system of social media users.
Farkas, Schou, and Neumayer (2018) argue that the platforms including
Facebook and Twitter are being criticized for fostering anonymity for the
harassers. Further, Lamerichs, Nguyen, Melguizo, Radojevic, and Lange-
Böhmer (2018) find that racist speeches are increasing in social media
through weaponization of memes. Social media driven by technologies are
mobilizing racism and hate speech (Matamoros-Fernández & Farkas, 2021).
 AI techniques have the ugly stakes in creating and intensifying the extreme
or hate speech. It is argued that hate speech can result in a climate of harm
and violence which could be detrimental for any target group. Extreme
speech on online platforms can pose threats for democratic societies
worldwide. The use of AI is not being massively used for extreme speech but
also intensifying the extreme speech. The algorithm output may be inaccurate
to apply blindly in all the cases without verifying it. Certain ethical issues
without proper checks are on the rise.
Hate speech in digital formats is critical in nature and detecting and
finding the solutions to it has become challenging. Udupa (2020) has rightly
asserted, “The dynamic nature of online hate speech—where hateful
expressions keep changing—adds to the complexity”. Moreover, hate speech
driven by AI techniques is more critical to detect and check. Therefore, this
calls for a collaborative approach between the developers and communities
and other stakeholders pertaining to this issue.

12.2.3 Artificial Intelligence, Disinformation or Fake News and

Hacking
Bakir and McStay (2018, p. 157) describe fake news as “either wholly false
or containing deliberately misleading elements incorporated within its
content or context”. Egelhofer and Lecheler (2019) argue that fake news is a
two-dimensional phenomenon. Firstly, it is the deliberate manufacture of
pseudo-journalistic disinformation. Secondly, it acts as political instrument
to limit the functions of ethical journalism. Rumors and conspiracy theories
are often discussed in the light of disinformation.
Whenever there are discussions on disinformation or fake news, hacking,
another ailing factor in the domain of digital media comes to the fore. Sun,
Xu, and Zhao (2021) points out that data breach has become usual which
results in leaking of confidential information and causing economic losses.
However, Lydon and Garcia (2015, p. 73) is somewhat optimistic in their
approach and comment that hacking is “the way in which something is
accomplished; it's about finding ways around conventional rules to get to an
end result, often through an open source and a largely decentralized structure
or method”.
 Disinformation campaigns or fake news and hacking have become
pervasive as social media is ruling the entire world. AI tools have amplified
the space of disinformation and provided the rooms for hacking. Automated
hacking is also riding high day by day. AI and machine learning are being
employed to cause cyberattacks on to our computer systems. This may result
in physical attacks by antisocial elements. Criminals, terrorists and other
persons with devilish intents can misuse AI tools for disinformation and
hacking. Fake news has already fueled mistrust in media, politics and
established institutions around the world. AI can be used to create deep fakes
(voices, images, videos, etc.) to trick people into saying or doing things they
would never do. On the other side of the story, AI tools can be instrumental
to curb the menace of fake news. So, the choice with journalists and the
agenda of newsrooms is how to use the AI tools.

12.2.4 Increasing Threat to Privacy

With the rise of digital media especially AI tools, individuals’ privacy is at
stake. Maintaining privacy has become an all-time herculean task. The rise of
automated journalism can give rise to libelous news content. Further, it is
escalating the issues of copyright and defamation. However, Lewis, Sanders,
and Carmody (2019, p. 74) argues,

“As artificial intelligence and automated decision-making

advance to the point that automated journalism can gather,
synthesize and publish information with less and less human
assistance, courts may be confronted with whether an
algorithm could qualify for testimonial privileges (i.e.,
journalist’s privilege) to protect its sources—however far-
fetched such a scenario may seem today.”

12.2.5 Artificial Intelligence and Creation of Disparities

The multifaceted nature of the digital divide remains complex till today.
Vassilakopoulou and Hustad (2021) highlight that digital divide is a typical
sociotechnical phenomenon. Digital inequalities are causing varied issues in
terms of access, real use and utility efficacy of digital resources. Matter of
privilege and exclusion are the ailing factors behind the digital divide.
Despite interventions from governmental mechanism, little precious has been
done to bridge the gap. Probably, we have not been able to understand the
real issue. However, bridging the digital divide remains imperative in
achieving and maintaining sustainable digitalized societies.
In a similar fashion, the use of AI tools in newsrooms is predicted to
develop income disparity and other societal maladies. Unfortunately, gender
issues are being predicted and to be grossly accumulated. Women journalists
might be facing the issue to a great extent in terms of adapting to newer
communication technologies including AI and machine learning. AI
techniques are creating the space of inequality of information which further
infamously strengthens the digital divide. This is going to originate the state
of dichotomy between the developed and developing nations. Surprisingly, a
newer level of dichotomy between Artificial Intelligence-HAVES and
Artificial Intelligence-HAVE-NOTS has already emerged across newsrooms
all over the world. Moreover, this dichotomy will further result in ample
amounts of undesirable consequences. The inequality of information
comprising the divide between the information rich and information poor
will eventually emerge in the arena of information and communication. With
AI in the process; ethical scrutiny, level of transparency and democratic
control will feather away in the time to come.
Owing to bring parity in terms of using AI techniques in newsrooms
across the nations, policy initiatives can resort to the subsidies targeting
specific digitally disadvantaged segments in developing nations. Digital
divides may be amicably addressed by crafting appropriate policies to equip
the newsrooms for meaningful engagements with the journalists who are
bedrock in the process of gathering, producing and distributing the news. The
design and development of AI techniques should consider the differences
from a newsroom to a newsroom in terms of usages for creating appropriate
stimuli to different newsrooms. Innovative approaches for leveraging AI
tools in the areas of gathering, production and distribution of news can be
initiated and sustained. The matter of privilege and exclusion needs to be
eradicated by stressing on inclusive approach to AI in newsrooms all the
world over.
12.2.6 Artificial Intelligence and Faulty Automation Process
AI techniques enable the newsrooms for automation which further saves time
and repackages the news contents, which is feasible as per audiences’ needs
and demands. The Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR or Industry 4.0
attempts to synthesize the technologies, industries and human behavior
societal patterns but in a changed and highly automated manner (Hassan &
Albayari, 2022). The open data, big data, cloud, AI, blockchain and
metaverse have taken the pace of journalism to the next level by virtue of
automation. Also, the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and computer-generated
imagery (CGI) are expected to influence Journalism in a big way. For an
instance, metaverse-powered storytelling is expected to outpace the
subscription and revenue models for the newsrooms across the globe.
However, we need to talk and discuss trust in the news which is delivered in
an algorithmized manner. However, there is skepticism regarding the quality
of news. Trust deficit is slowly increasing day by day. To lessen the gravity
of an issue, the matter needs to be discussed. There must be plenty of
experimentation phases which will test the real capability and compatibility
of these communication technologies to be used in the field of journalism.
Ethical aspects need to be duly incorporated at each and every stage of news
from gathering to consumption. Journalists need to be more equipped with
technical skills and efficiency and should not simply leave the data and AI
techniques to data scientists.
AI tools are good and can function well when they are picked and
executed in a healthy pattern. Precisely, AI is all good at pattern recognition.
AI’s recognition patterns are being potentially used in social media outlets
like Facebook. However, in the process of pattern recognition, AI cannot
provide some other important things to the audience. Therefore, AI process
could turn to erroneous and biased outcomes. In the process of automation,
algorithm which plays an important role, is a matter of randomness.
Algorithms have some sort of biasness and it is very much there when
automation is executed in the journalistic process. When the algorithm
process is faulty from the stage of gathering of news, subsequently production
and distribution of news will become faulty and the entire ecology of news
will be erroneous. As a result, it will create trust deficit among the audience
of news media organizations. Trust deficit will have repercussions on news
values which will further invite ethical concerns.
The data, especially good data remain imperative in the process of AI and
automating the journalistic narratives. Good data are instrumental to
empower the marginalized communities which can create and take the
dialogue beyond anthropocentrism. However, Daly, Devitt, and Mann (2021,
p. 104) points out,

“Data is the fuel for AI, providing value and power. AI

capabilities are typically designed, funded, developed,
deployed and regulated (if indeed at all) by the wealthy
progressing the values of profit, power and dominance. AI
is constructed in a way that typically reinforces and cements
the status quo and existing power relationships.”

Therefore, in the context of journalism and news industry, the applications of

good data to empower marginalized communities or foster social causes in
the journalistic process and narratives remain scarce as of now. The
production, distribution and consumption of journalistic contents for
community and social development through AI and machine learning remain a
day dream.
In this context, Beckett (2019, p. 55) argues,

“Automatically generating articles from erroneous databases

can lead to the spreading of false information, potentially
under the label of a media brand that is considered
trustworthy by the public. In general, it is essential to keep
in mind that the objective of a high-quality newspaper
cannot merely be economic success. If a machine learning
algorithm is trained to maximize revenue, the risk of valuing
click-bait articles more than investigative research projects is
high. Therefore, it should be carefully considered what
metrics to optimize for and how to maintain the quality
standards.”
The automation in the algorithm process of news may cause racial or gender
biases which is socially and politically unacceptable. In the process of
automating the news, fake news may be germinated. Anyone can ventilate
one’s opinion in the name of news and can also share others’ standpoints
without thoroughly validating them. There must be difference between
opinion and news pieces. The treatment of opinion and news pieces must be
different. That’s why, one should not trust everything one reads or watches in
whatever platform (Black & Fullerton, 2020). Overall, it is risking the entire
automation process which is biased and detrimental to the audience and
entire news industry as well.

12.2.7 Artificial Intelligence and Minimizing Human Interaction

Human Interaction and intervention remain vital in the newsrooms. In the
process of AI and automation of news, human interaction and human touch
are being curtailed. Many a time, machines do not understand what is
important to the audiences, what kind of news the audience wants to consume
and at what point in time. Again, sometimes when machines take the decision
alone that audiences may not comprehensively understand. Decisions taken
by machines may not appropriately value human conversations. When
machines start taking decisions on behalf of humans, what happens to those
decision-makers in the near future? Ignoring or minimizing the role of humans
in the newsrooms has become an illusion which further trace out the pinch of
ethical issues.
Human and machine. These two are different entities in terms of their
genesis and implications on society. A line should be drawn between these
two and the demarcation should be made for the betterment of society as a
whole. When news gets automated through the process of algorithm,
journalists tend to monitor the machines for various purposes including
customizing the news contents and completeness of the news contents.
Monitoring is usually about taking timely and meaningful decisions to keep
the ecology of news media intact from ethical and business perspectives.
While understanding and assessing the media ethics and editorial rules
pertaining to AI, newspersons need to put the applications of machines under
the scanner. Newspersons should apply the human intellect to assess the
credibility of news which are generated and disseminated through AI tools.
Again with the recent arrival of ChatGPT, an AI tool, journalists should be
more cautious to strike a balance between man and machine. In this context,
the necessity to keep a strong human basis for each meaningful decision has
become imperative. There is little doubt on the aspect of human values to be
incorporated in the process of robot or automated journalism. The balancing
act between machine and human values needs to be maintained in a
sustainable manner in the ecology of news media. Let’s equally value both
man and machine or prioritize on one which is appropriately required at that
point of time.
In this context, Beckett (2019, pp. 62–63) has rightly mentioned,

“To make sure that the impact is a net positive, the

journalistic values and principles need to govern the
development of AI solutions. If media outlets are too much
driven by wrong technical metrics, they can encourage
journalists to try to compete with robots or game the AI
recommendation systems. Instead, patience, perseverance
and curiosity are valuable human qualities and should be
encouraged inside the newsroom.”

12.2.8 Artificial Intelligence and Threats to Employment

The issue of unemployment because of automation in the news industry is
looming large. AI tools are working as communicators by swapping the role
of journalists (Jamil, 2021). As a result, skepticism towards AI and machine
learning cannot be avoided with the fear of downsizing the employment
prospects. With the automation and algorithm on the rise, there are increasing
threats to job cuts and the levels of unemployment can be increased. Job cuts
and levels of unemployment is getting rampant. Humans will be increasingly
redundant. Downsizing in the levels of jobs can miserably affect the
economic condition of the journalists who will lose their jobs. In the lines of
economy and national development, it can have further impact on bringing the
economy down in terms of per capita income.
Retaining the jobs in the age of automation demands newer skills to be
imparted and learnt in a continuous manner. To learn newer skills is not
always possible because of several obstacles like lack of personal will or
institutional support. Such nature of ethical issues is going to be grave in the
coming days. To cope with this changing environment, upgrading skills,
especially in the light of AI and machine learning is of utmost importance.
New jobs will be created at the cost of old jobs which are very prevalent in
the perennial structure of news media. However, newer skills will be
required as per news industry. The gap between the existing skillsets and
required skills set among the journalists will eventually escalate certain
amount of ethical issues on the spectrum of journalism and its impact on
society as well. Innovation in terms of AI in newsrooms has become a
paradox from ethical perspectives.
In this light in general, Huang and Rust (2018, p. 1) point out, “AI will be
capable of performing even the intuitive and empathetic tasks, which enables
innovative ways of human–machine integration for providing service but also
results in a fundamental threat for human employment”.

12.2.9 Artificial Intelligence and Cultural Challenges

Culture has been found as one of the potential obstacles for change and
development in newsrooms. Professional culture, especially outdated
professional mindset tends to hamper the transformations in the newsrooms.
To mitigate the issue, innovative learning culture can be the solution. Porcu
(2020, p. 1568) asserts that innovative learning culture (ILC)

“can detect the drivers and obstacles for newsroom learning

and innovation processes that have not been identified
earlier, as newsrooms have not been considered from a
learning culture perspective before. Furthermore, with ILC a
closer look can be taken at the newsroom’s own capabilities
for innovation, as ILC taps into the intrinsic resilience and
creativity of the newsroom.”

More specifically, revisiting ILC as a means of solution is to break the

barrier of technological lethargy in terms of using AI tools in newsrooms.
However, AI fatigue needs to be taken care of by maintaining the balance and
boundaries in the newsrooms. For good or bad, AI tools have come to mold
the ecology of news media all the world over.
Cultural barriers remain complex in nature. Cultural barriers cannot be
removed in a compartmentalized manner rather it should be dealt with in a
collaborative method. The editorial policy needs to be chalked out with the
IT policy of a given news media outlet. In this light, Beckett (2019, p. 48)
has rightly argued,

“There is a cultural gap between computer scientists and

journalists. Topics such as algorithmic personalization are
straightforward and sensible directions for computer
scientists, but raise concerns with journalists around
editorial responsibilities, filter bubbles, etc. We need to keep
everyone on board and get commitment before developing
solutions. The solution is to keep in touch/discuss with each
other. We (AI team) currently have monthly meetings with
editors to keep everyone on board, present our ideas and
request feedback.”

Therefore, AI is not an easy key that can translate from abstract to reality in
terms of adapting technological innovations in the newsrooms. The adoption
of technological innovations needs to be relevant and contextualized.

12.2.10 Artificial Intelligence and Excessive of Commercial

Interests
News organizations are hardly opting for ethical issues rather they chase
their corporate mission and interests. They are not thinking twice about
dumping the journalistic standards which are the bedrock of media laws and
news values. Several times, news media companies are not willing to reveal
the process of algorithm works for automating the news (Brennen, Howard,
& Nielsen, 2018) as it may hamper their business interests. The financial
gains by using AI and neglecting the interests of other stakeholders at the
same time could lapse in terms of ethical standards. Further, AI tools and
those who are in the process of executing them perpetuate the infamous
format of discrimination. In the context of using AI tools, investors or agents
in news media business are being brought and engaged in manipulating the
facts and disseminating the facts in a distorted manner. So, commercial
interests also stay responsible for the ill-effects of AI in journalism.
Lowering the editorial standard is a mark of ethical issue which occurs in
the process of automation. Using AI tools in newsrooms and curtailing the
editorial expenses blindly may lower the editorial standard which may
further deteriorate the standard of that news media organization. Furthermore,
a decline in the quality of news may hamper the revenue model including the
advertisements. The issue of so-called big and innovative companies will be
there always there. These companies will grip over the research and
developments. However, they can be the point of connection for fostering
innovations and development. In the context of using technologies in the field
of journalism, the need for equity in employing AI tools should be there to
strike a chord between growth and ethical concerns.

12.2.11 Artificial Intelligence and Conflict of Byline or Credit of

Authorship
Carlson (2015, p. 417) defines automated journalism as “algorithmic
processes that convert data into narrative news texts with limited to no
human intervention beyond the initial programming”. The problem starts here
as there is limited or no human intervention in the overall journalistic
narratives. In the context of assessing the effects of byline on the credibility
of news stories, McAllister III (1966, p. 333) points out. “The byline itself,
then, did little to enhance the credibility of the newspaper articles, nor did
the indication that the authors were experts”. However, the times have
changed. Audiences are increasingly connected to the authors of the news
stories which are participatory in nature. Over the years, participatory
culture in the ecosystem of news has emerged. This participatory culture
creates a unique structure of power relations within the news industry since
audiences remain the mainstay in this newly structured relation between the
news media and their audiences. In the realm of participatory culture, byline
stories of authors or journalists enjoy certain amount of weightage in the
perspectives of audience engagement and persuasiveness.
 Byline stories are better persuasive in nature. If bylines are missed out or
diluted, the credibility of news stories will be also diluted. Distrust on news
media will be developed. It will further weaken the advertising revenue.
Byline stories indicate a reporter’s social role in which a reporter is
connected to various communities and society as well. However, this aspect
of journalism is missing in robot journalism which runs through a process of
automation or algorithm. Ignoring a reporter’s social role and trying to
connect with the audience through automation of news develops ethical
concerns.
Usually, byline or authorship signals a creative domain (Fisk, 2006),
indicating the relations between a journalist and news media organization
(Reich & Boudana, 2014). However, with the race for competition along
with AI automation in news media, AI-generated persona of journalists is not
significant. Many things are lost in this process of algorithm or automation of
news. The human touch is slowly fading away. Thanks to the excessive use of
machine in general and AI tools in particular in newsrooms.
Algorithmic authorship remains complex and has mixed implications on
news outlets, journalists and their audiences (Montal & Reich, 2017, 2019).
The issue of discrepancies pertaining to authorship and crediting policy still
hangs in balance. An appropriate form of authorship and crediting policy can
create a sense of public interest. However, AI-driven news in newsrooms is
not able to afford the required amount of authorship or credit. Again, to
mitigate this issue is not a cakewalk as the whole news media industry is
undergoing transformations and still counting. The framework for a consistent
and comprehensive byline policy needs to be ethically attained and later
ecology of news media news can be organically strategized.

12.2.12 Artificial Intelligence and Other Mixed Dimensions to

Ethical Issues
Apart from abovementioned ethical issues of AI in the field of journalism,
other dimensions like bad bots and dark web deserve due deliberations. Bots
are programs to develop and automate various assignments. Some of the bots
are useful in nature in the newsrooms. However, some are bad bots which
are directed towards destructive purposes. When it is detected that some bots
are bad, they must be verified and blocked as soon as possible before
causing sheer damage to humankind. Bad bots which are malicious in nature,
are being used by fraudsters, cybercriminals and other nefarious elements.
Those bad bots are also being used for stealing valuable content from other
websites. Those contents could be information about any product, breaking
news items and user-generated content (UGC) from any community blogs.
Going beyond, those bots can be used for distorting and misleading marketing
analytics, influencing the website’s search engine rankings, spamming
community forums with undesirable messages and influencing political
elections.
Like bad bots, dark web is otherwise known as deep, invisible and hidden
web. It is being used for initiating criminal activities. Dark web is being
blatantly used for drug trafficking, child pornography and credit card
deception. Such AI-driven tool used in journalism is posing threats to public
opinion and democratic norms. It is acting as a means of surveillance of
authoritarian governments for various oppressive agenda. The Dutch
operation episode for collecting secret information is a classic example of
dark web where it was bad to the core (Kumar & Rosenbach, 2019). As dark
web enforcement capabilities are escalating, its impacts are becoming more
lethal to humankind. Therefore, AI driven tools have started causing gross
ethical issues gripping the news industry.
With the automation rising in journalism; water holing, ransomware,
scanning, trolling, web crawling, act of cyber robot, web scraping is getting
intensified. Watering hole is a computer attack strategy and in this criminal
process the attacker tends to observe and contaminate others’ computers to
get access. Such type of social engineering attack which exploit the users’
trust that the users provide to the websites or interactive chat forums they
regularly visit. Ransomware is a disseminating malware which thwarts the
users from accessing their systems. Trolls and bots remain in interrupting the
functioning of social media. OpenAI’s super-trolling artificial intelligence is
also there. There are manipulations on Amazon ( & Skowronski, 2023). Web
crawling refers to indexing the data on web pages by a program or automated
script. Web scraping is an automatic process in gathering the data from
websites and disseminate the same information. All these tools have the
bearings on the process of journalistic process and ultimately, they are
causing ethical concerns.
12.2.12.1 Artificial Intelligence, Social influencers in
Journalism and Ethical Issues
AI has the power to do good and bad to the state of journalism. An influencer
is someone who is able to affect the decision process of the audience. It
happens as an influencer has the ability, expertise and relationship with the
audience. Commercial brands and even organizations working for social
causes bank on the influencers for maximum endorsements. No wonder, some
of the people want to be effective social influencers (British Council, 2023).
Since social media have become accepted platforms, numerous influencers
are keen to manifest their presence in social media. The influencers try to
influence the audience through their posts which actively engage the audience
on these virtual spaces.
12.2.12.1.1 JOURNALISTS AS INFLUENCERS
The role of journalists keeps on changing. Nowadays, there are discussions
whether journalists are playing the role of influencers (Negreira-Rey,
Vázquez-Herrero, & López-García, 2022). Suffice to say, several journalists
and writers are popular and accepted among the audience and they tend to
influence the audience as well through their articles and opinion pieces.
Some of the journalists are popular because of their expertise in given beats.
Some of the journalists influence the people for their write-ups in the fields
like politics, economy, business, technology, agriculture, sports,
entertainment, development and crime. Sometimes, journalists as influencers
are known in print media covering newspapers and magazine. Some of the
journalists influence on television screens on prime time. Today is the age of
digital platforms. Some of the journalists’ influence is getting apparent on
digital news platforms. Moreover, some of the journalists are engaged in
writing biographies of noted personalities and they tend to influence the
audience.
12.2.12.1.2 INFLUENCE INTENT
At present, social media influencers are delivering curated contents to the
audiences (Hund, 2019). The convergence of digital journalism and
influencer culture has spawned an entire genre of reporting to accommodate,
such as breath-taking coverage of book launches by popular authors. Like
others AI can assist journalists in boosting their influence on the audience. AI
has a lot to do with social influencers, social media marketing and
journalism as well. These days, influencers’ communication and marketing
remains one of the most effective marketing strategies. Marketers agree that it
is effective in generating the best ROI and creating the most value for the
brand. When you're working with dozens of influencers, it can be difficult to
know which campaigns are successful and which aren't. AI in influencer
marketing can help you understand brand mentions, traffic, conversions and
more. It helps to directly link the key metrics of the influencer to their
specific initiatives. You can do this in real time and monitor whether
influencers are meeting the goals they have agreed with their followers.
social influencers do have direct or indirect impact on journalism. News
media tend to cover the social influencers and the brands they endorse
through their communication. Even though AI helps in understanding the
social influences’ impact, but it could be inappropriate to understand and
measure from ethical perspectives.
12.2.12.1.3 MEASURING INFLUENCE
With the advent of social media outlet, people’ interactions and
communication have undergone massive changes. Influencers are getting
apparent in all social media platforms. Social media influencers are
everywhere. Their influence on consumer collectives is quite apparent. They
are engaged in conversations with the consumers to further boost the business
activities (Mardon, Cocker, & Daunt, 2023). However, finding such
influencers for particular purpose or activity remains important.
These social media influencers have larger associations with the
audience. At the same time audience support and rely on the social media
influencers for their commendable authenticity and stature (Lou & Yuan,
2019). The nature and amount of engagement, outreach and expansion,
sentiment and progress are the key factors in measuring the impact of social
influencers. Brands are roping in social influencers for their brand
promotion. Social media influencers are employed for their high credibility
to influence the audience. So, credibility is a major road to assess the impact
of social media influencing. Social media influencers have a beneficial
impact on intensifying communities’ effective outreach. Therefore, effective
outreach is a scale that measures the impact of social media influencers.
12.2.12.1.4 MONETIZING SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE
There is no doubt that social media based on the technology of artificial
intelligence and social media influencers resort to monetary models. All
these social media activities boil down to business and monetary gains. Even
though influencers and influence agencies have arrived towards
monetarization, they have different strategies for achieving it at this time.
Precisely, the key objective was to maximize monetization. Genuineness
controls over the process of monetizing influence, but it frequently implies.
Influencers, marketers and brands, especially in this early period, mean
different things. Influencers are aiming to maintain what they had immense
pressure to monetize with creative inspiration .
Since advertisers, influencers and viewers are all accustomed to
traditional product and service endorsements, motives for monetization for
the influencers are nothing new in the industry. However, there is an
incremental format that offers publishers and influencers greater control over
conversions and unmatched chances for gritty targeting. Influencer affiliate
marketing, a method of traffic monetization, is becoming more apparent these
days. One can direct and navigate one’s potential customers to only reputable
products with affiliate link ads placed in your social media and make money
for each click. The model is not too complicated. By placing a link
somewhere in one’s social media channels and informing one’s audience, one
can supply an ad placement.

Social Media Platforms for Affiliate Marketing:

Social media platforms are being used for affiliate marketing. The nature and
type of your reach and the platforms you use may have you questioning
whether the incremental advertising approach would work for you.
Nevertheless, influencers are not all created equal. With influencer affiliate
link structure, you may sign up as a legitimate publisher for branded offers
regardless of the social media platform you are using. All types of social
media influencers can develop into influential publishers. The affiliate link
format enables the users to embed the advertisement for the promoted brand
in a variety of settings.

Using Instagram Platform for Profit:

Instagram remains a powerful means of monetizing social media influence.
Instagram is beyond an online photo book. Another significant feature of
Instagram is that it truly enables someone to elevate his/her game as a creator
by marketing and promoting one’s unique links in various locations. Each
format has its own qualities and will appeal to audiences that are slightly
different. Consequently, Instagram is most likely the most adaptable social
media network available, at least in terms of affiliate marketing opportunities
and techniques.

Using YouTube Platform for Profit:

YouTube is comparatively less interactive because of its nature and the trait
of the platform. YouTube creators have the capacity to keep their fans
interested for a long time. However, it does not alter the reality that, in the
hands of an experienced publisher, its traffic might develop into a genuine
asset. The strength of YouTube creators retains the attention of viewers for a
long time. They have the opportunity to monetize their astronomical number
of visits through affiliate networks.

Using Facebook Platform for Profit:

Facebook has become a powerful social media platform in which social
media influencers are active for monetary gains. This platform has
introduced newer windows for chronicling audiences and followers as well
(Zeropark, 2023). These influencers have an ever-widening reach, with
events, brand deals, TV shows and magazine covers being their playing
fields. Where effective social influencers are engaged with the audience,
money flows. As per the Influencer Marketing Report, the Indian influencer
industry is expected to reach at Rs 2,200 crore by 2025 and grow at a 25
percent CAGR, pointing out the fact that influencer business is getting serious
and visible. As per marketing experts, an influencer in India based on the
category they cater to, the niche and the deliverables can earn from Rs
15,000–5,00,000 from one brand deal (CNBC TV18, 2023). As it is a
business affairs and cost is involved, brands know what they want from the
influencers and how the influencers will target their audience.
12.2.12.2 Artificial Intelligence, Translation in Journalism and
Ethical Issues
Translation powered by AI tools has ethical implications in the domain of
journalism. AI translation just applies the power of machine. One of the
major innovations of this system is the translation of audio-visual content.
These translations are automatic, but can also be enhanced in terms of text,
voice and time by using synthetic voice-offs in the translations. The system
automatically creates video pills for social networks, ready to summarize
and translate messages into other languages.
AI-based translation tools can provide instant translations when
journalists in the newsrooms need them most. AI translators can act as
invaluable helpers for journalists. The best AI language tools can transcreate
large amounts of text with high accuracy, without the financial overhead
associated with human translators. This can be a boon for the newsroom.
However, AI tools for translation in the domain of journalism is not free from
ethical flaws. Cultural misconceptions remain one major flaw with AI tools
when they are used in newsrooms. AI translators are more accurate than ever,
but they don't have deep knowledge of the local culture. Accurate translations
can still be misleading or offensive to locals, and humor is something that
computers are not well equipped to analyze the things.
News items should be easy to understand among the readers. However, in
the course of translation, complexity comes in, causing ionocovalence to the
news consumers. AI translation tools can struggle with unclear or ambiguous
source text. When it comes to terminology, it may not be ideal for accurate
translation. Some texts need to be complicated. Computers are very good at
repetitive tasks with definite results, but they are not very good at making text
attractive and readable. Text produced by AI translation is often boring and
neutral. These drawbacks from ethical perspectives may discourage
journalists to use AI tools for translation in newsroom management.

12.2.12.3 ChatGPT in Journalism and Ethical Issues

ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence tool, is seen as a game changer that
redefines how people learn and work. Journalists are no exception. They can
use ChatGPT to quickly verify information and ensure reporting accuracy.
Using the language model, journalists can paste a summary or part of a
scientific article into ChatGPT and ask the software to simplify it. Journalists
can use this tool to better understand an article or idea before interviewing
the article's author. ChatGPT helps journalists gather information on various
topics, saving time and allowing them to focus on the writing and reporting
process. Newsrooms can use ChatGPT to generate ideas for articles,
headlines and story angles or generate summaries and highlights from long
pieces of content. This AI tool helps journalists analyze large data sets and
uncover trends and insights related to reporting. ChatGPT can summarize
long articles and news into concise, easy-to-understand summaries, helping
journalists keep up with the latest developments in the field. ChatGPT is
being used to make headlines. Even though ChatGPT is bad and unethical,
certain newsrooms apply this AI tool for writing articles. Using this AI tool
in the newsrooms has invited ethical and legal repercussions. ChatGPT can
be disastrous for journalistic truth. Platforms that can imitate the writings of
people who have no commitment to truth will benefit the individuals or
organizations who make money from disinformation. Use of such AI tools
cannot go unbridled. It has disrupted the essence and process of journalism.
For journalism purposes, a huge amount of material (words, images,
sounds, videos) can be produced very quickly. The problem is that they are
not committed to the truth at all. Just think of how ChatGPT users can flood
the internet with bogus messages that look like they were written by a human.
The most disturbing fact to reiterate is that ChatGPT is not responsible for
the truth. As the MIT Technology Review puts it, large language model
chatbots are "notorious bullshit". Disinformation, fraud and crime also
usually do not require true confessions. Visit the blackhatworld.com forums.
People involved in malicious acts share ideas for making money from fake
content. ChatGPT is touted as a game changer for generating better fake
reviews and comments or compelling profiles.
The applications of ChatGPT for all sorts of communication or
journalistic narratives have invited ethical apprehensions. As humans started
banking on machines to conduct conversations, the real human connection can
be lost. The ability to get associated with other is a central aspect of human
beings and any wayward use of machines including ChatGPT could bring
damage to human beings and society as well (Bogost, 2022). ChatGPT has
admitted to its weaknesses. AI is a double-edged sword, disrupting decades-
old revenue models rooted in digital advertising, while potentially allowing
newsrooms to ditch human writers to save costs. ChatGPT was created by
collecting a large amount of information from around the internet, so the
information returned is as biased as the information used for training. When
journalists use ChatGPT, they not only double-check the content presented,
but also reach out to others with different point of views, including those
who may disagree with the prejudices built into ChatGPT.
Many scholars believe that journalism is in the midst of a revolution and
that mastery of content-generating algorithms and AI tools will be a key
battleground. This could lead to a major shift in the space of publishing
companies, promoters and search engines, encountering with new media
technologies like AI tools. ChatGPT, an AI tool, cannot be useless for
journalists. It can assist the journalists to make things better. However,
ChatGPT or other AI tools for the journalists’ jobs are debatable.

12.3 Promise, Perils and Predictions of Artificial

Intelligence in Journalism
Needless to say, technology has had a wonderful, almost unimaginable
impact on humankind since the dawn of civilization. AI, a part of
technological innovations, is all around us. And newsrooms are not
exception to it. The power of AI is transforming the process of journalism.
AI is evolving and providing the newsrooms with a promising productivity.
This is providing a newer level of engagement with the audiences. Apart
from other technologies like metaverse, blockchain, NFTs, computer-
generated imagery, immersive technologies and ChatGPT are going to
influence the state of journalism in big way. When it comes to journalism, the
intersection of journalism and AI tools is at the crossroads.
ChatGPT has surprised internet users around the world by answering a
series of questions. The search interface has also been addressed by fixing
broken code. Bots continue to engage different people including the
journalists to answer experimental questions. Needless to say, experimental
questions are the ethical issues which are often discussed in the domain of
journalism. It comes with certain challenges such as the threat of plagiarism,
phishing and misinformation campaigns. ChatGPT is suitable for certain
business uses, but it is not yet proven and may not see mass adoption by news
persons until future versions are rolled out.
Nevertheless, any technology including AI is detrimental to newsrooms in
particular or society in general if it is not used with good intents. It is the
way that decides whether AI is a boon or bane. The nature of usages draws a
line between good and bad from ethical perspectives. There is little doubt
that our information ecosystem is fast moving towards unreality. It sounds
surprising, but is true. The perils of excessive reliance on AI in the ecology
of news media are causing gross ethical issues in various forms. While using
AI techniques for journalistic narratives is indeed revolutionary, there are
certain downsides to it. New communication technologies are always
invented for creating good causes for the newsrooms and audiences as well.
AI has the ability to make the newsrooms better than before. However to
make the newsrooms from good to better, we ought to choose the
technologies that accord with ethics or principles. Applying AI in the
ecology of news media should not be wayward in nature.
The evils of disinformation and emergence of dubious news platforms are
the dimensions which demand discussions from ethical perspectives. The
dissemination of disinformation will be spiraling in the future.
Disinformation campaigns for the dissemination of disinformation demands a
lot of human effort. However, by employing AI tools will assist the agents of
disinformation and push this evil to the next level. Things have crossed
beyond a certain point that argues for AI literacy. In this juncture, AI literacy
has become the need of the hour. The incorporation of AI techniques into
newsrooms has given rise to new ethical issues and new responsibilities in
the profession of journalism. Precisely, possible pathways comprising AI
strategies judicious in nature can be applied which will attain ethical
concerns in the ecology of news media. Evaluate what are the areas of news
media outlets where AI can be operated without any ethical concerns. This
can be the guidelines for the newsrooms which are novice in the time of
using AI tools.
Identifying key ethical issues posing ethical issues by the use of AI tools
in the field of journalism, needs to be attained. Training the resources,
enhancing the skills and mitigating the cultural barriers can lessen the
magnitude of ethical issues. While being mindful of their hazardous outcomes
in the newsrooms and society as a whole, embracing AI techniques in news
media has become inevitable. Through the concerted and continuous efforts
of news media and other stakeholders of the industry of journalism, AI can
make the ecology of news media better than before without any ethical
concerns.

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13 Foundations, Ferment and
Future of Artificial Intelligence in
Journalism
DOI: 10.4324/9781032716879-13

13.1 Introduction
Journalism with artificial intelligence (AI) is now a reality. Nearly every
area of our lives now includes AI, including journalism. We inadvertently
tend to receive content based on AI techniques everywhere because of the
development of digital media. Our Facebook feed, YouTube-suggested
videos and the kinds of adverts we see on standard websites are all
individually tailored to you with the use of AI tools. The application of AI
tools in media and communication in general and journalism in particular,
entails communication revolution. The future of communication technologies
including AI tools navigates the history, process and future of the
communication revolution.
In this context, recapitulating Carey and Singhal is of pivotal importance.
Going back to the history and navigation pertaining to the communication
revolution, Carey (1965, pp. 23–24) asserts,

“In the 18th and 19th centuries western countries were hit
with two successive waves of revolutions, revolutions
separated in time but tied in logic. The first was the
industrial revolution which reorganised the nature of work
and the structural basis of class and community. The second
was the revolution in communication and popular culture
which reorganised the basis on which art, information, and
culture was made available and the terms on which
 experience was worked into consciousness. While some
commentators chose to treat these revolutions as
independent events, it is obvious they stand as cause and
effect, successive moments in the same process. The timing,
interrelationship, speed, and extensiveness of these
revolutions vary considerably from country to country, but
both the direction of change and the major implications of
these revolutions is everywhere the same.”

On the other hand, Singhal and Rogers (2001) specifically indicates the
process of communication revolution in India, bringing the discussion on the
role of governmental level and in private enterprise, technology parks and
the internet revolution.
AI has the potential to influence how journalism is produced, distributed
and consumed. However, journalism needs to learn from varied industries,
like technology companies and start-ups, marketing and advertising and
marketing practices. There is no denying that AI has both the sides,
sometimes it paves the way for newer explorations and sometimes it proves
to be detrimental for the newsrooms. ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, has brought
revolution in the field of media and communication. ChatGPT is a
revolutionary language processing model developed by OpenAI, one of the
world's leading AI research institutes. Designed to understand and generate
natural language responses to various inputs, ChatGPT is a game changer in
the field of communication.
In addition to its application in the business world, ChatGPT will also
have a major impact on future communications. As more people use AI-
powered chatbots and virtual assistants, the need for advanced language
processing models like ChatGPT will continue to grow. This has eventually
changed the process of communication.
At OpenAI, we are committed to advancing the field of artificial
intelligence and developing new technologies that have the potential to
change the world. With ChatGPT, we believe we have created a model that
can revolutionize the way we communicate and interact with the world
around us. The ChatGPT tool is certainly impressive and has implications for
everything from education and classroom assignments to journalism and
marketing. However, its output is funny, sometimes funny, fluid, compelling
but unreliable and produces answers that can be surprisingly wrong. In an
information environment rife with cybercrime and disinformation, ChatGPT’s
human-mimicking parlor tricks add gas to an already burning dumpster fire.
Using the language model, journalists can paste a summary or part of a
scientific article into ChatGPT and ask the software to simplify it. Journalists
can use this tool to understand an article or idea better before interviewing
the article's author.

13.2 Artificial Intelligence in Journalism: A Mixed

Response
The use of artificial intelligence in journalism can be a boon or bane (Biswal
& Gouda, 2020). The use of technology can eliminate countless hours of
tedious effort. Computers, for instance, can group together files of a similar
nature that would normally need a lot of time to study, freeing up reporters to
concentrate on the subject (McCarthy & Kunova, 2021). The basic objective
is to free up the journalists to concentrate on the most creative aspects of
their work while automating mundane activities, but new case studies
indicate that the advantages may be more than we realize. By transcribing
audio and video interviews, AI can also save the reporters’ time.
AI tools can perform a wide range of functions. You do not need to shift
through a ton of spreadsheets because they can do it for you. They can
identify peculiarities like a significant expenditure by your local council,
unusually high or low temperatures in your area, or a sharp rise or reduction
in hospital admissions. You may even employ the tools to write material and
validate it. They can personalize your website or newsletter for the readers
and instantly publish it. There are limitless options which can make
journalism better. Although you must initially spend some money, the
majority of AI-powered technologies result in long-term cost savings.
Kumud Das, a journalist-turned-academic in India, argues,

In news gathering, artificial intelligence can be for the

regulator stuff like press release and other regulatory filing.
In broadcast medium, it can be more relevant but again here
 in news production rather than news gathering. AI can play
a vital role in news distribution and think AI will gain
momentum. AI is not going to be a very costly technology
and it will be taken well both in developed and developing
world.

Upasana Singh, working as a correspondent with Reuters News points out the
use of artificial intelligence in news gathering, news production and
distribution is not only time efficient but it has also led to a higher degree of
accuracy. However, when AI models are used to produce news, they often
lack the human element of emotions. At the same time, Inam Mohammad, the
chief content creator, working in one of major Hindi news media outlets,
Hindustan opines that the use of artificial intelligence is not there in regional
media and Hindi media in India because of lack of knowledge and finance.
However, the importance of AI in dealing with news consumers during
Covid-19 times has increased. The high-quality camera and mobile phones
are required for journalists working in Hindi news media outlets and these
are not available. Hi-tech software and their use are also limited. There is
room for change here with the inclusion of AI in newsrooms.
Journalists can harvest open datasets using AI-powered technologies and
stores the content in the cloud. Humans then use the data to create narratives
that speak to people’s concerns about a variety of issues, including air
pollution, crime, traffic and the coronavirus. Every item of information can
be turned into local news by including a location tag. Investigative
journalism can profit from the use of machines, much as local reporting.
Newsrooms are also utilizing computational tools as accountability tools,
utilizing the technology to quickly evaluate enormous amounts of data. To
combat misinformation, work is being done to create AI systems that will
assist journalists in fact-checking politicians in real time. The AI community
is expanding, and its participants are eager to assist journalists in
overcoming their reluctance to collaborate with computers. The consensus
among all presenters was that you don't need to have everything sorted out in
order to start; all you need to do is ask someone you trust for guidance.
However, Das asserts,
 “I think the prominence of fake news can gain momentum
with AI as the developers of these technologies will be the
first to misuse it. The biggest fear is on financial news where
a misinformation on a company’s results or a corporate
action can lead to rise/fall in market cap in billions of dollars
in few minutes. It can be easy to plug-in a fake press release.
So, creating the trust on AI could be difficult.”

Singh finds that when it comes to privacy and AI which is applied by major
social media networks such as Facebook nowadays, the theme of ethicality
often becomes blurred. On the one hand, people willingly share information
on such channels, but this information is systematically organized to discern
individual patterns and target particular news items. In some ways, this could
lead to propaganda.
Automated journalism writing is becoming possible with assistance from
AI applications. Media outlets have to rely on experienced journalists for
many years to create news items or cover events on a daily basis. Journalists
don't want to imply that this is no longer the case, but AI has given rise to
new approaches to basic communication and content creation. In order to
free up professional journalists' time to write more in-depth pieces, AI is
increasingly writing rote articles or articles that are essentially reports. The
majority of natural language generation (NLG) techniques used to create
these articles were initially made available by software providers like
Narrative Science. Many media organizations today have created internal
versions. AI can improve the reporting process in the same way that visiting
numerous websites can make it easier to conduct online research.
AI is currently making inroads in the journalistic industry. AI now plays a
far larger part in journalism as a result of social media's effect. As a result,
media companies are aggressively looking for AI assistance to improve their
content. Robot reporters are designed to produce vast amounts of information
more quickly. Trust is essential to maintaining the confidence and
subscriptions of news consumers in a world where disinformation is on the
rise. Such AI technologies have been proved to be useful to make journalism
more unbiased. As a result, technologies can make journalism beneficial and
relevant for people too.
 Commenting on the use of artificial intelligence in journalism in
developed countries and developing countries and the possible emergence of
the digital divide in a new form, Lalatendu Acharya, a faculty member
associated with public health, social development and communication from
Indiana University Kokomo, United States asserts, artificial intelligence can
actually reduce the existing digital divide rather than exacerbate it. AI offers
creative platforms to enable more equality in journalism in digitally
developed and developing countries. For example, AI solutions can be
preloaded into devices commonly used by journalists in developing countries
with unreliable internet, digital platforms to enable increased access to data.
AI has been extensively used to address global disparities in health,
education and other areas. So, one has to see AI as an enabler in bridging the
digital divide and building a much more inclusive society.
In this context, Das argues artificial intelligence can be used in automated
systems especially with respect to official press releases and filings with the
regulatory bodies and this can be used across the board whether in
developed or developing countries. Editing is one area which could gets
impacted. So, AI can be more about cost optimization rather than improving
journalistic capabilities. Das does not think that it would create any digital
divide as journalism is all about trust and credibility and there is a good
possibility of trust being less in the AI and digital world. The use of the word
“Fake News” is more prevalent in post social media.
AI tools can be used to lessen the amount of bullying and abuse. AI tools
are being used in journalism in a wide range of ways. Numerous news
organizations are also utilizing AI to filter readers’ comments, promote
positive debate and get rid of bullying and harassment on their websites. AI
is identifying the mark of prejudice and tendencies. In order to lessen the bias
in its own output, bots are being used. Another intriguing prospect is that
articles may start to be written specifically for certain niche audiences and
ultimately for each of us. At the same time, the use of artificial intelligence is
not free from shortcomings. The problem is that most journalists are not
computer experts and are more interested in the results of artificial
intelligence than in how it operates. Again, computers can also be biased,
just as people. We still live in a world that is ruled by humans, so while data
represents human behavior, it also reflects our mistakes and prejudices.
 Pallavi Guha, a faculty member with Towson University, United States
asserts,

“artificial intelligence is useful in certain aspects of news and

journalism, such as big data analysis, data journalism, voter
estimates, election campaign spending, and others; however,
it can impact ethical issues and news values, if not used
responsibly. Algorithms are, after all, taught and have biases.
One example would be the AI correction of non-Anglo-
Saxon names, threatening the accuracy of news stories.”

AI has created disruptions in almost all spheres of society. AI acts as a

disruptive innovation which is increasingly felt day by day. The field of
journalism is not free from such kind of disruptions. However, this disruptive
innovation has invited political upheaval across the countries which has
further fueled political polarizations. Often, political polarizations are not
good indications of democratic governance. As a result, political extremism
driven by vested interests gets a boost which goes against the mission and
vision of a democratic mechanism. So, communication technologies
including AI, metaverse, blockchain, machine learning, computer-generated
imagery (CGI) and immersive tools need to address such pitfalls that
technologies can be fruitful for societal growth.
If the audience is to believe, the reporting process must be open and
someone must take responsibility, whether it is a human or a machine
conducting the reporting. AI tools enable journalists to understand and
interpret the data at a faster pace. In this context, Maarit Jaakkola, Co-
Director, Nordicom, Nordic Centre for Media Research, University of
Gothenburg, Sweden asserts,

“As the most recent development already has shown,

artificial intelligence will facilitate the acquisition of
information, as well as the collection, curation and analysis
of (big) data. AI will assist journalists in standardized
writing tasks, facilitating the journalistic work by making it
 quicker and freeing journalists from routine tasks. This
could, in optimistic views, mean that journalists will have
more time to concentrate on the qualitative dimensions of
their work and reallocate their time in more productive
ways, which may result in more investigative, interpretative
reporting. If we want to sustain the optimism, this might
mean more quality journalism, which distinguishes
journalism from the forms of production of bulk content
and can, at its best, lead into reappreciation of journalism
among the audiences. However, the development is not
linear and progressive, and AI may also mean some negative
consequences, not only for journalism, but for the whole
information ecology, as the automated production of dis-
information and mal-information will increase.”

Acharya emphasizes that artificial intelligence provides a method(s) for

extending a journalist’s access and reach in her reportage of events. AI is
here to stay and grow and get more and more integrated into news gathering,
summarizing and delivery. So, the key here is to understand and build on how
AI can be used to facilitate the journalist’s reportage. Here, one must
understand that AI does not do magic in gathering or reporting news. The old
adage of GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) still operates here as the news is
as good as the skillsets of the human journalist who gathered the primary data
and sees the “news” angle (the newsy element!). AI helps in consolidating,
aggregating, generating trends, suggesting new ideas/patterns for further
journalistic usage. For example, AI can ensure that a journalist can tap into
the raw material generated at numerous health-related events happening in
the area and thus enables the health journalists to analyze the data, develop a
news angle and report. This support from AI is extremely useful in
development and health journalism as a journalist can access numerous
sources (expanding coverage) negating the impossibility of being physically
present at all those sites. AI can be used to generate machine-written articles
which can be used as a draft for journalists helping them in tackling the
complexities. Improving workflow process, generating alerts/ trends, helping
reduce human bias, transcribing audio and video data, generating audience-
specific(personalized) news are other ways in which AI can impact the
media ecology. AI thus supports the news media ecology in increasing
access, news aggregation, mapping trends, helping complex investigative
projects, tackling human bias and generating options for news summaries and
distribution.
The applications of AI tools in journalism also helps to lessen the flaws
pertaining to the data. The Janetbot is one such piece of AI software. This
technique was useful in examining the variation in the proportion of gendered
images that appeared in newspapers. However, it had to be terminated
because the AI could not distinguish between genders. AI literacy is the need
of the hour. As Jaakkola points out, “Artificial intelligence may affect
citizens in ways that require more awareness of its uses. Journalists should
try to increase the awareness of how AI works and how people can, for
example, withdraw from it or protect their privacy”.
Delivering his unique stand on artificial intelligence in news media on
health-related issues in the context of privacy, ethical issues and news
values, Acharya argues, artificial intelligence can be a valuable tool,
resource in building the current privacy, ethical and value framework while
delivering news on health. News media is home to an extremely diverse set
of media persons who deliver news in different formats. They also possess a
fairly wide and diverse training and qualification. Over time, the need for
basic, additional and refresher training is felt which can be addressed by AI.
Thus, AI can strengthen the current privacy and ethical climate in delivering
health news. That being said, there are a lot of inherent risks involved and
there are no easy answers. Lack of legislation, protocols and the diversity of
health contexts around the world, raise more challenges. There is a need to
develop ethically robust AI systems that incorporate ethical issues in
delivering health news with the understanding that these systems are tailored
to the individual country contexts (policies and laws). For example, privacy
and ethical issues in health would differ in the US and Indian context
(similarities aside).
The prospect of coexisting with AI poses a threat to many journalists. The
COVID-19 pandemic's economic effects have sparked an unparalleled
journalistic crisis that threatens to destroy media outlets all across the world.
AI may be crucial to journalism's survival in the future. Sadeep Sahu, a
senior correspondent of BBC in India has rightly confirmed that artificial
intelligence can certainly be a wonderful tool for journalists, especially
when it comes to mundane, cumbersome tasks like transcribing audio/video
interviews. The use of AI can save valuable time and allow the journalist to
focus on the more substantive aspects of writing like deriving insights. It can
also help examine and interpret large volumes of data and flag trends and
anomalies emerging out of it. To a certain extent, it can also reduce the scope
for subjective interpretation of data and the element of bias. But excessive
use of AI poses the danger of what is called “robot journalism”. The human
element must remain an essential part of quality journalism.
AI techniques can be used to focus on local news by including a location
tag. However, local or small news media outlets are not able to exploit the
power of AI. Similarly, technologies like metaverse, machine learning,
blockchain, computer-generated imagery and immersive technologies are not
able to get accommodated in small newsrooms. This raises the larger picture
of vernacularization of communication technologies in general and AI in
journalism in particular. The political economy of AI needs to be factored in
while understanding this dimension. However, this remains a challenge. In
addition, metaverse, machine learning, blockchain and immersive
technologies need to be understood in the light of political economy as these
technologies are going to shape up the future of journalism.
Domestication of communication technologies remains insightful.
Domestication of using artificial intelligence is newsrooms is an unavoidable
area in the domain of media technology and journalism. However,
domestication of AI in newsrooms and journalistic narratives is taking a back
seat. News outlets should not be crazy about the use of AI tools only rather
they must be engaged in studies and descriptions of the mechanisms
governing how journalists choose to embrace, use, or reject AI tools.
Domestication theory pertaining to AI in journalism can highlight the
involvement of users in innovation as a component of the social shaping of
technology method to understand how technology is formed. The process of
incorporating AI tools is also important like understanding any process.
Especially, domestication of AI can be tested on the anvil of local news.
Similar treatment ought to be provided to other communication technologies
like metaverse, machine learning, blockchain, computer-generated imagery
and immersive technologies in the light of journalistic uses and gratifications.
 The future of artificial intelligence can be bright with due precautions in
the realm of journalism. However, it is not exactly known to anyone. The
employment level in journalism won’t be eliminated or replaced by AI. In
fact, editors and journalists need to be reoriented toward value-added
content, such as long-form journalism, feature interviews, analysis, data-
driven journalism and investigative journalism. In the worst-case scenario,
automation might replace human labor and endanger jobs as well as the
uniqueness of journalism. In its ideal form, technology may revitalize
journalism by taking over time-consuming and repetitive duties, freeing up
journalists to concentrate on creating high-value content. However, the
automation of journalistic production techniques is not just restricted to text
creation.
Artificial intelligence can be instrumental for communicating social
change and development. Development communication, especially
development journalism can get a Philip when communication technologies
like metaverse, machine learning, blockchain, computer-generated imagery
and immersive technologies along with AI will be used for positive,
purposive and pragmatic manner. The nonfungible tokens (NFTs) can also be
factored in the light of ownership pattern of news media outlets which have
further bearings on developmental news and development of society.
Maintaining the credentials of positive, purposive and pragmatic approach to
journalism will direct the pace of journalism from mere communication to
development communication and from mere journalism to development
communication. Since developing countries are gripping with numerous
developmental issues, development journalism through technological
interventions is of paramount importance.
In this context, Pradip Thomas, University of Queensland, Australia, who
is an expert in development communication comments,

If artificial intelligence enables the collection and analysis of

Big Data is useful in investigative journalism, advocacy
journalism, developmental journalism, human rights
journalism, public interest journalism, I have no issues with
it. If on the other hand, it is used in stories to justify
discrimination against specific communities, create negative
 profiles, misrepresent reality or advocate for policies that
justify the selective development of communities, then
artificial intelligence should be critiqued and there should be
efforts to protect the ethics of development journalism. I
think that we live in the times when every type of journalism
simply has no choice but has to make its pace with AI.

On the use of artificial intelligence in the field of development

communication, Manisha Pathak-Shelat, Professor, Communication & Digital
Platforms and Strategies; Chair, Centre for Development Management and
Communication, MICA, Ahmedabad, India, comments that like any other
technological innovation, artificial intelligence can be liberating and
democratizing or it can be disruptive and discriminatory. If we prioritize
ethical design and use of AI, it can certainly contribute to development and
development communication. With its powerful facilitation of data mining
and analysis, AI can help design more evidence-based communication
strategies, it can make information cheaper, quicker and more accessible, and
it can help in scaling up successful communication campaigns. AI can also be
useful in customization of communication for various audience segments
conducting formative and summative research for communication initiatives.
Commenting on the future of artificial intelligence in journalism,
especially in development communication/journalism in general and
journalism on health in particular, Acharya states that the integration of AI
and reliance on it is just going to increase. It’s better our journalists to
acquire the required skillsets to perform in that environment. They should
understand the risks and benefits of using AI and focus on how it can be used
as a reinforcing beneficial tool.
In recent years, AI is playing an important role in the domain of
journalism. Many businesses have internal software that can produce news
items in a matter of minutes or even seconds. The data are all that artificial
intelligence need. Now, this information may take the shape of numbers,
audio, or video. Newsworthy stories on them will be generated by the
software. With the use of language processing software, major media
institutions like the Washington Post, BBC and Bloomberg are employing AI
to write news pieces. Imagine the supplying of any form of data to an AI
program, including the specifics of a business's assets. In that instance, the
computer program will automatically interpret the data and provide you with
a published-ready piece. However, Das asserts that artificial intelligence has
not much relevance in business journalism beyond press release. But for
reporters surviving on plain vanilla press reporting and editing jobs could
have a problem. The analysis (especially financial numbers), in-depth
investigative stories and good features writing cannot be done using
machines. It’s like when the computers and mobile phones came people
thought demand for paper will reduce, but it has actually gone up. AI will
lead to good quality journalism and journalist. AI could have a very
restrictive role in editing and distribution. But on reporting, Das does not
think it can replace people.
Singh predicts that in the field of journalism, artificial intelligence is here
to stay. Although it might take several years for it to match the human quotient
of journalism, it is increasingly becoming popular for its timeliness and
accuracy. At the same time, Inam highlights that the attitude and perception of
the new generation news consumers towards Hindi media outlet is
negligible. New generation news consumers tend to visit online news
sources and social media which are better equipped with artificial
technology tools. The space and future of AI in Hindi media is quite bright.
The use of artificial intelligence is directly or indirectly connected to the
teaching pedagogy of media and communication, especially the education of
journalism. It is a known fact that classroom teaching also produces and
prepares journalists for the future. Imparting theories with adequate practical
training is required for the optimum learning on the use of AI in practicing
journalism. It would be necessary to study programming concepts, statistics
and probability, as well as linguistic engineering and data quality issues, and
to work on comprehending algorithms. It would also include developing the
required critical mindset. Simultaneously, several academic voices are
urging journalists to cultivate computational thinking in order to encourage
communication with computer scientists.
In this context, Guha asserts,

“I am seeing the inclusion of AI tools and scholarship in

journalism courses here; it is imperative as the nature of
 journalism has changed and evolved. What we need is to
include more equitable and inclusive tools and scholarship
on AI in journalism. It is not perfect due to the inherent
biases, but a step toward making investigative journalism
accessible.”

On the applications of AI tools in the pedagogy of development

communication, Prof. Pathak-Shelat points out that the effective use of
artificial intelligence in pedagogy of development communication depends
on several factors: scale, spread and affordability of infrastructure; capacity
building of communicators and audiences; inclusivity in design and delivery,
and the political will to reach the last mile. AI-based pedagogy can be
immensely useful when we don’t have adequately trained human resources
for developing and delivering development communication. It can be
innovatively used to set up triggers, nudges and alarms with respect to
certain behavioral change goals. AI can also assist us in curating customized
learning modules for individual learners.
The discussion of artificial intelligence in the light of journalism has been
insightful pertaining to evolution and revolution in journalism; development
journalism; changing ecology of news media; data journalism, citizen
journalism; social–cultural implications; and ethical issues and
responsibilities. Precisely, Bryson (2019) underlines,

“beyond the economic and governance challenges, we need

to remember that AI first and foremost extends and
enhances what it means to be human, and in particular our
problem-solving capacities. Given ongoing global challenges
such as security and sustainability, such enhancements
promise to continue to be of significant benefit, assuming
we can establish good mechanisms for their regulation.
Through a sensible portfolio of regulatory policies and
agencies, we should continue to expand—and also to limit,
as appropriate—the scope of potential AI application.”
This also applies to the field of journalism.

13.3 Concluding Remarks

The discussion of artificial intelligence in the newsrooms frequently deviates
from journalism and focuses exclusively on algorithms, databases, and
machine learning. Algorithmic necessity or necessity evil in journalism are
the larger talking points. Journalism with AI is now a reality. Nearly every
area of our lives now includes AI, including journalism. We inadvertently
receive content based on AI everywhere because of the development of
digital media. Your Facebook feed, YouTube-suggested videos, and the kinds
of adverts you see on standard websites are all individually tailored to you
with the use of AI tools. In a similar vein, AI is currently making inroads in
the journalistic industry. AI now plays a far larger part in journalism as a
result of social media's effect. As a result, media companies are aggressively
looking for AI assistance to improve their content.
Machine learning is gradually but surely entering the journalistic process
in addition to the specialized technologies we just highlighted. Newman
(2021) highlights,

“New technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) will also

drive greater efficiency and automation across many
industries including publishing this year. But as AI moves
out of R&D labs into real-life application, we can expect
more heated debate about its impact on society – about the
pace of change, about transparency and fairness.”

Jaakkola remarks, artificial intelligence does not “cure” or “fix” the possible
shortcomings of journalism, but what is still needed is the human input and
intervention – that is, journalistic competences are still at play. Journalists
should continue to examine the world, yet now with new technologies that
may facilitate this important public mission but does not change the core task,
which is informing the public in fact-based, truthful and accountable ways.
Guha highlights that artificial intelligence is much needed, considering the
level of misinformation, and disinformation we are dealing with. Open-
source AI tools are helpful for investigative journalism and audience
engagement, such as AnecbotalNYT. Gradually, in the profession, we will
see more mature development and implementation of AI tools.
Collaboration is the mantra when we consider the judicious applications
of AI technology in the journalism industry. It comes to the judicious use of
AI tools in journalism. Collaborating with computer scientists to develop
concepts that would improve and facilitate journalists' work is essential for
the future of journalism. AI is a component of a novel commercial strategy
based on dismantling media silos. A close-fitting collaboration between the
editorial staff and other media teams, such as engineers, computer scientists,
statisticians, sales or marketing professionals, must be established. Suffice to
say, the journalists will coexist with the machines. Moreover, the use of
metaverse, machine learning, blockchain, computer-generated imagery and
immersive technologies are coming up in a big way along with AI. Ignoring
or not fully exploiting these communication technologies is not the solution.
The way out is to examine, trial and accept the technologies based on the
nature and functions of given newsrooms.
Innovations and technologies do influence the process of whistleblowing
platforms, especially digital whistleblowing. Technologies can bring radical
approach to journalism and strengthening the watchdog culture (Di Salvo &
Leaks, 2020). Similarly, the use of AI can be considered as one tool for
digital whistleblowing which can redefine the culture of digital
whistleblowing. With no surprise, whistleblowing enables the citizens to
curb unethical practice and brings workplace ethics, integrity and honesty in
the governance and mechanism.
Currently, some of the news media organizations have started using social
bots. They are being used for writing news stories. These bots are
instrumental for providing technological supports in terms of production and
dissemination of news. Keeping the need and demand of AI, news media
outlets will heavily rely on AI, metaverse, machine learning, blockchain,
computer-generated imagery and immersive technologies. AI provides the
speed and accuracy to the ecology of production, distribution and
consumption of news.
In this context, Beckett (2019, p. 90) points out,
 “AI technologies will not save journalism or kill it off.
Journalism faces a host of other challenges such as public
apathy and antipathy, competition for attention, and political
persecution. Perhaps the best hope for journalism in a world
where AI becomes more powerful in so many areas, from
politics to medicine, is that AI and the world need good
journalism more than ever.”

Since the future of local media and local news content is promising,
understanding the vernacularization of artificial intelligence in the context of
local news and local media outlets has become the core attention. However,
it remains a challenge and needs to be discussed and explored further.
Domestication of AI in journalism in general and local news in particular
needs to be studied. Needless to say, this area enjoys the research area of
novelty and the study warrants due execution in course of time.
Of course, the size of the newsroom must be considered while
incorporating AI tools. A tiny weekly or a hyperlocal media company might
not have the resources to deploy AI swiftly. However, it's crucial to get
moving straight away for the others. To make the most of this, journalists
need to receive better training and start cooperating with colleges and start-
ups. AI is not a passing trend. It will not go away. People with a certain set
of talents are needed for AI initiatives. However, the newsrooms and product
developers at smaller news organizations with whom we met do not have the
bandwidth despite having those capabilities. They have to commit to their
current responsibilities. Moreover, without human and financial resources,
AI cannot exist.
Artificial intelligence in journalism needs to foster inclusive journalism
so that the benefits and equity of journalism can be reached to all the citizens
who are the last ladder of governance and beneficiary. Inclusive journalism
paves the way for authentic commitment and diversity. Inclusive journalists
equipped with AI tools need to be good listeners, humble, innovative, self-
aware and keen to change the status quo. Journalism with AI is about new
powers, but with new sense of responsibility. New powers have to strike the
right chord with new responsibilities.
 AI tools are becoming an important part of the news industry. However,
these are skewed and distributed. AI tools are increasingly used in the
production, distribution and consumption of news among the audience.
However, the news industry should not merely idealize and emulate the
effectiveness of such technology without criticality. New ideas or
technological innovations often come with skepticism. Change is tough.
However, it is possible. Hence, AI can be the future of the news industry.
AI literacy is to be fostered across the news organization. Since ChatGPT
is buzzing in the domain of journalism, ChatGPT literacy has also become
inevitable. AI skills including coding and training needs to be disseminated.
The use of AI must enjoy ethical norms. This technology can be used to
improve data accuracy with ethical standards. AI should be restricted to the
use of machines rather treated how the tools can be more human and societal.
Machine empowering the journalistic outlets should adhere to human touch
and the factor of humanistic insight needs to be treated as a premium. The
question remains hunting everyone whether journalists are using and viewing
artificial intelligence. Precisely, AI is an effective technology for industry for
which its uses are increasing. However, the use of such technology is in the
state of infancy. Keep your hopes high and try out AI in journalism to see
how it works.
Precisely to conclude, Prodnik (2021, p. 220) suggests,

“critical observations should not be taken as some Luddite

rejection of technological progress, where the only path is
either acceptance of algorithms or their complete rejection.
Instead, there is no doubt that algorithms of a different sort
can serve democratic means, reduce human toil, reduce
inequalities and help to bring about overall improvements in
the quality of our lives. But this presupposes their
fundamental reimagining in how they are made and for what
purposes, together with political struggles that take into
account the fact they can – and should – be changed if this is
to happen. And this cannot be done without a change in
who has control and ownership over these systems. In other
 words, this presupposes social relations that go beyond
those imposed by digital capitalism.”

Needless to say, ChatGPT, an AI Chatbot, quickly became one of the most

powerful natural language processing tools. OpenAI's language model,
ChatGPT, is the latest breakthrough in AI research. It is based on the GPT
(Generative Pretrained Transformer) architecture and is optimized for a
variety of tasks, from answering queries to writing texts to reading poetry.
The first step in this process is collecting data from different publishers to
understand which news events are being discussed and by whom. The next
step is to run these articles through a model that the founders have created
with journalists. This model assesses the quality of plays based on criteria
such as the presence of facts and elements of prejudice. ChatGPT has made it
possible for everything and everyone to go online. The massive digitization
of everyday life has led to a very extensive corpus of texts, the internet.
ChatGPT inhales all this text and uses it to predict patterns and develop
phrases.
The first look at how ChatGPT and similar tools are used in adversarial
ways, undermining trust in the information environment, pushing people out
of public discussion and into increasingly homogenous communities. That's
it. Second, a series of fascinating experiments to adapt image and text
generation tools such as ChatGPT and Dall-E as a society to actually benefit
these incredible advances in ways that really serve society. And I predict that
research will be seen in the field. Gain benefits while limiting harm,
especially to the most vulnerable. Finally, we anticipate and expect
increased interest at the federal level in creating meaningful guardrails for
the development and deployment of these and other AI systems. Beyond pure
innovation.
Another challenge to the larger role of generative AI in journalism is the
factual mistakes that ChatGPT often makes. ChatGPT may provide the
contents with nonexistent references. ChatGPT cannot distinguish fact or
fiction, true or false. Tools cannot form opinions. Answers are (still) based
on public information, disinformation and misinformation. ChatGPT is still a
search engine. Go to next level. ChatGPT uses 3–4 more words and uses
natural language processing to communicate aggregate results. ChatGPT also
looks shady in the field of journalism. Here are some of the things that
ChatGPT does not do. Investigate, fact-check, or edit at a minimum
reasonable level. In fact, ChatGPT proves that finding the ‘truth’ is much
more difficult than having enough data and the right algorithms. Despite its
capabilities, ChatGPT is unlikely to match human capabilities. Its technical
design and similar tool design lack basics such as common sense and
symbolic thinking.
Das, a journalist-turned-academic in India, argues that ChatGPT can help
journalists and analyze large chunks of data quickly and efficiently. By
inputting data sets, the language model can provide insights and trends that
can be used to support news articles. Also, it can help journalists generate
content for their articles, soft stories in particular which may include review,
obituary, profiling of personalities, etc. Moreover, it will be of much use for
the preparation of cartoons, diagrams, charts, infographics and even artists’
impressions for a journalist to help complete his story. Besides, ChatGPT
may be of tremendous use for a journalist to complete his/her homework
before going for an assignment or preparation of queries to conduct interview
of a celebrity.
There are apprehensions that technology could eventually replace human
writers. While AI can process vast amounts of data and generate responses
quickly, it lacks the creativity, empathy and critical thinking skills that are
essential for many professions. Still, there are certain areas of journalism
where AI can very well replace human beings like analytical writings, fact
findings and above all capital market commentary where reporting has to be
done in a certain format and only figures with facts are needed to replace.
ChatGPT does possess a certain facility with language, proficiency in data
processing and a certain talent for generating responses at lightning speed. Of
course, it comes with riders like it lacks the qualities that make humans truly
exceptional. In conclusion, ChatGPT can be well utilized as a complement to
human journalists.
Leah E. Bryant, Associate Professor and researcher in the domain of
Communication Studies, DePaul University, United States,

“ChatGPT and other AI writing programs are changing the

landscape of how information is reported. There is
 justifiable cause for concern and also excitement at the new
opportunities created by this new technology. The concerns
that ChatGPT may obviate the need for human content
creation has merit; however, creativity as well as accuracy
checks lie within the purview of living breathing people.
This is a new frontier, leaving us awed and alarmed.”

There are several discussions happening taking the future of ChatGPT in

journalism in particular and media and communication in general. We need to
challenge the notion of automation that seems to be pervasive in
conversations about ChatGPT and other forms of “artificial intelligence”,
that AI can operate alone and threaten to replace humans. One of the things
we have learned in out research on the history of technology is that all too
often, when technology is invented, there are exorbitant expectations placed
on it. Airplanes bring world peace. Movies will make schools obsolete. We
have the advantage of being able to look at this history and recognize that no
technology is really inevitable and that the march of progress will
(inexorably) involve many unexpected turns.
Since ChatGPT's popularity, many have wondered if the job of a
journalist is becoming obsolete. AI tools have really permeated the
newsrooms. But to say it makes journalists irrelevant is vague. The future of
journalism is about to change. However, it is important to get used to, learn
and adapt to change. Therefore, we need to fully understand why the use of
AI in the media does not render the work of journalists obsolete.
Journalists are well placed to fight hype. Don't let these tools blind you
beyond measure. Don't humanize them. Ask tough questions about what the
people or state or world should do. Of course, it's always been the job of
journalists, and despite the impact of artificial intelligence, it's going
nowhere.

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Index

4IR 257
5G 25, 42
360 video 34

Acta Diurna 4, 24
advertising 54, 197
advocacy 13, 80, 87, 282
affiliate marketing 266
AI policies 250
AI tools 103, 256
alternative journalism 13, 56, 214
applique 240
appropriate technology 46
artificial intelligence 1
Artificial intelligence (AI) 10, 20, 21
artificial intelligence-HAVE NOTs 221
artificial intelligence-HAVES 115
Artificial Studio 40
audioblogs 28
augmented reality 5, 31
authenticate news 246
authorship 263
Autodidacticism 157
automation 20, 87, 100
autonomous technology 60

beat reporting 103

big data 53, 84, 140, 159, 184
blockchain 10, 25, 45, 47, 49, 51, 73, 90, 92, 111, 114, 210, 211, 225, 234, 236, 248, 250, 258, 269,
278, 281, 285
bourgeois public sphere 197, 226
brands 11, 266
byline 263

CAGR 267
campaigns 9, 195
Chandua 240
chatbots 6, 99
Chat GPT 87, 107
citizen journalism 181
citizenship 181
civil disobedience 246
civilizations 239
clickbait 187
collaborative enterprises 35
commercial journalism 13
communication campaigns 282
communication revolution 24, 42, 274
computational image processing 33
Computer-assisted reporting (CAR) 133
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) 47, 65, 90, 173, 234
computer-mediated communication 65
conscientization 62
conventional matching sites 247
copyright 106, 247, 256
counter-hegemonic community 193
Covid-19 12, 23, 185, 280
cradle-to-cradle framework 47
creativity 104
credibility 9, 103
crowd journalism 43
cryptocurrency 43
cultural challenge 138, 261
cultural diversity 80
cultural divides 240
cultural misconceptions 267
cultural resistance 102
curating 98, 157

data deluge 157

data journalism 3.0 123
data mining 32, 101
data-poor 140
data revolution 136, 158
data-rich people 140
deceptive information 8
Deepfakes 9, 40, 254
DeepSwap 40
defamation 256
democratic media 160
democratic societies 2, 9, 255
democratic transparency 189
democratization process 218
demographics 244
developing nations 85, 167
development communication 61, 72, 74, 281
development journalism 13, 63, 75, 77, 78, 91
de-Westernization 91
dichotomies 136, 164, 165
digital anchors 246
digital avatar 30
digital democracy 195
digital divide 113, 277
digital ecosystem 32, 33
digital humanism 214
digital humanitarianism 215
digitalized journalistic profession 64
Digital Ledger Technology (DLT) 248
digital native media 1, 60
digital storytelling 27, 126
digital transition 10, 15, 242
disinformation 8, 277
disruptive 42, 104, 233
dissent 225
domesticity 170
DOMYSHOOT 40

economic disparity 87
emancipatory communication 78, 79, 203
empirical research 53, 177
epistemologies 53, 65, 129
equity 1, 2, 74, 76, 78, 85, 190, 262, 286
ethical standards 3, 7, 87, 187, 252, 262, 286

Facebook 11
fake news 7, 8, 110
feedback 61, 191
feminist media theory 63
feminization 169
flak 13
fourth estate 2

gatekeepers 7
gatekeeping 53
gender 55
Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) 287
geography 5
Geojournalism 131
GIGO 279
Global North 89, 113
Global South 38, 89
good governance 76, 139
Google 41, 142
Google Media Tools 185
Google News Initiative network 41
Google Waymo 22
grassroots 79
grassroots communication 14, 80

Habermas, J. 196
hate speech 9, 255
HAVE-NOTs 81, 221, 257
high-caliber reporting 213
homogenization 210
human intelligence 1, 48
human interaction 259
human intervention 100, 262
human labor 220, 281
human rights 78, 226
Hyperlocal data journalism 155

ideology 168
immersive journalism 5, 29–31, 39
impactful journalism 161
inclusive development 72, 77, 214
inclusive media platforms 169
inclusiveness 1, 76, 250
Industrial Revolution 20, 24, 82, 257
Industry 4.0 42
infographics 134
Information and communication technologies (ICT) 73
information asymmetry 174
Innovative learning culture (ILC) 166
Instagram 266
intellectual capability 19
interactivity 181
inverted pyramid 13, 124
IOT-5G technology 42
IT policy 261

journalism 2
journalistic balance 53, 65
journalistic values 199

language 5
Large language models (LLMs) 84
leapfrogging 47, 99, 114, 145, 150, 163, 165
learning ability 19
libelous 256
local ethos 139
localization 108
local journalism 155
location tag 276

mainstream journalism 13, 78, 190, 234

mainstream news 80
mantra 285
marginalized 62, 193
Marginalized sections 193
masculine 170
matrimonial websites 247
media consumers 125
media genres 241
media ownership 197
Meri News 183
metaverse 5, 44
migration 87, 88, 134
Mobile journalism (MOJO) 26
mofussil reporting 103
multidisciplinary cooperation 135, 157
multimedia journalism 26, 186

Newer Ethical Issues 252

new journalistic identity 210, 213
news agencies 40, 245
news agency 40, 245
news aggregation 41, 87, 152, 279
news contents 189
newsrooms 31
news values 54, 198
newsworthy 4, 14, 36, 142, 169, 191
NLP algorithms 86
Nonfungible tokens (NFT) 248

objectivity 3, 120
online dating 247
OpenAI 41, 42, 106, 233, 264, 275, 287
open data 122, 142
Open SDG Data Hub 158
oppressed voices 245
organizational structure 242

participatory communication 82, 191, 193, 228, 229

participatory culture 262
participatory environment communication 63
Paywalls 7
pedagogical approach 136, 157
pedagogical deliberations 135
pedagogy 135
plurality 124
political economy 48, 55
political narratives 183
political polarizations 253
predictive analytics 1, 48
printing press 24, 25, 189
privacy 30, 256, 280
professional training 181
propaganda 7, 53, 54, 74, 254
public discourse 3, 91, 170, 189–190, 226, 227, 235, 243, 246, 250
public domain 244
public relations 12, 160
Public Sphere 196
public trust 3, 213

quantitative approach 39

racism 255
refeudalization 227
regulation 6, 233
reliable AI systems 249
representation 232
research agendas 62
Robot reporters 277
robots 20, 23, 109, 200
RSS feeds 98
rural journalism 13

sentiment 86, 155

silver filigree 240
social influencers 264
social media activism 79
social movements 194, 195, 241
social responsibility 7
social values 239
sousveillance 183
spatial storytelling 35
spiral of silence 58
stakeholders 74, 102, 190
stone craving 5
storytelling 5, 27
subobstacle 166
surveillance 219
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) 1, 83, 91, 93, 136
sustainable technologies 47

Tabula 131
Tarakasi 240
technological determinism 59
technological inequality 115
technology 23
technology acceptance model 167
TinyLetter 23, 185, 186
Topaz 40
traditional journalism 129
transformation 27
translation 102, 109
transparency 120, 136
TV subscribers 44
Twitter 141, 142, 185, 223, 228
UNESCO 1
User-generated content (UGC) 99, 191, 213, 216, 221
uses and gratifications 195
uses and gratification Theory 54

Verizon 5G 42
virtual reality 6, 30, 34, 86
visual effects 114
visual storytelling 185

watchdogs 8
webcasts 2
WeChat 182
WhatsApp 188
whistleblowing 16, 285, 289
Winnow Solutions 22
womanhood 170

yellow journalism 8