Bölümler
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As a media organisation, they stand on three pillars: journalism, technology and the wisdom of crowds. From the very beginning, they have worked at the intersection of journalism, technology and community engagement.
It was co-founded by a woman who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for safeguarding freedom of expression and for her efforts to address corruption in her country.
They were the first media organisation in their country to publish guidelines on AI use in 2023.
They were among ten digital media organisations selected by OpenAI to participate in "innovative experiments around deliberative technologies".
By now, I am sure you have guessed that in a new episode of the AI-FLUENT podcast, I am talking to Gemma Mendoza. Along with Maria Ressa and other journalists, she was one of the co-founders of Rappler, the most prominent Filipino news website. Now she leads digital innovation and disinformation research at Rappler.
Main Topics We Discussed In This Episode:
How to balance the speed and efficiency that AI offers with Rappler's commitment to slow journalism and deep investigative reportingAI's impact on the relationship between journalists and their sourcesThe biggest misconception about generative AI in journalism and the most surprising aspects of its developmentRappler—one of the most famous Filipino news websites in the world—stands on three pillars: journalism, technology and the wisdom of crowds. How does their newsroom rely on this wisdom?How they utilise AI at the intersection of journalism, technology and community engagementAt Rappler, they create their own AI tools in-house. What determines whether they create their own tool rather than use existing market solutions? How do they address ethical implications when using their own data, including ensuring it isn't biased?The role and input of Gen Z journalists in Rappler's newsroomRequired changes in journalism schools' educational systems to better prepare future journalists for the new realityGemma, who leads Rappler's efforts to address disinformation in digital media, shares recent examples of how AI tools have made their work more efficientPatterns and peculiarities in how people use deepfake technologiesIn 2023, Rappler became the first Filipino newsroom to publish guidelines on AI use. Gemma's recommendations for other newsrooms worldwide on approaching AI—what are the crucial aspects not to overlook?The future of journalism in three wordsGemma's case for journalism: why should a 15-year-old become a journalist in this AI-driven world? -
Are you a small newsroom or a one-person content creator, and are you, like this episode's guest, happy to fail fast and fail often? You might not have a designated tech team, yet you want to use AI-powered tools to speed up your work and solve certain problems.
Are you tempted to use AI to produce even more content? Pause here and reconsider: might there be better ways to use generative AI to advance your work and develop a deeper understanding of those whom you serve?
We are discussing all of this and more with Tshepo Tshabalala from LSE's JournalismAI global initiative, which helps small newsrooms devise ideas and solutions for using AI wisely and responsibly. I started this conversation by asking Tshepo what kinds of projects they work on with different newsrooms around the world.
Main Topics We Discussed In This Episode:
Why is this network beneficial for small newsrooms applying for their fellowships?Quick solutions versus long-term AI strategyExamples of AI-powered solutions from different newsroomsCommon misperceptions of AI-powered tools in newsrooms JournalismAI works withWhy does your audience come (or not) to you? Do you really know why?Ethical implications of using AI in a newsroom: guidelines or no guidelines?Creativity versus meaning: does generative AI reduce us to recyclers of meaning rather than creators of it?Example of a "wow project" that Tshepo has come across recentlyBlitz questions -
Eksik bölüm mü var?
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If journalism is valuable, as many of us think, why don't people pay for it? That's the question Alan returned to several times during our conversation. And he actually gave the answer, an existential answer to this question.
What's the purpose of your newsroom? Why do you exist as a media organisation? What audience needs do you serve? If you are able to answer these questions honestly without any corporate fluff, you come closer to answering the money question: why should people pay for your content?
'We have gone past peak content', Alan says. Nobody wakes up in the morning wanting more content - people want to get stuff done, they want a sense of community, they want to learn something new, they want to have fun etc. The problem is, as Alan points out, that many newsrooms still operate as if people wake up wanting more content for the sake of content. Wake up!
Main Topics We Discussed in This Episode:
How AI Enables Media SolopreneursSupply versus Demand Side Thinking: How Does It Work in Journalism?How to Use AI to Get a Deeper Understanding of What Audiences WantNo One Wakes Up in the Morning Wanting More Content - Why Do We Create So Much of It Then?What Is a Better Use of AI-powered Tools, Apart from Creating Content?How to Stand Out in a Crowded Content Market Wherever You AreWe All Pay for Stuff and Services, Why Not for News?"What People Buy Is Very Different from What People Get, or What People Want"Creativity versus Recycling Old NarrativesAI and the Nature of OriginalityHow to Measure AI Impact on Revenue Generation, Audience Engagement and CredibilityWhere Does Obsession with Optimising Everything Lead Us?AI as a Co-thinker and Co-founder of Your Potential Start-upLifehack from Alan on Using AI in the Context of StorytellingOn the Future of JournalismCome back and listen to us on January 9, 2025 for an all new episode.
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You can investigate serious corruption cases, but it doesn't mean that the way you talk about it to your audience should be super serious and boring. What if you come up with an AI-powered avatar that uses facts checked by human journalists, yet speaks to the audience in a sarcastic voice as an assistant rather than a know-it-all expert?
Claudia Báez, a digital innovator and co-founder of the Colombian investigative website Cuestión Pública, thinks that investigative journalism should by no means be delivered in a way that is appealing only to men in suits over 40.
She created an AI-powered tool - Odín - to help her team of journalists stay relevant to the current news agenda, reach different audiences, and, of course, save time and money.
I talked to Claudia about this and much more, so maybe you, as a storyteller anywhere in the world, can be inspired and apply some of these insights in your everyday professional life.
Main topics we discussed in this episode:
Why Odín and how does this AI-powered tool help the team of Cuestión Pública stay relevant to audiences in Colombia?What's the most important question regarding AI we should ask ourselves first?What are the challenges investigative journalists face in Colombia, and how does technology help them solve some of those problems?Investigative journalism doesn't have to be delivered in a serious and often boring way. Generative AI gives us many opportunities to experiment with formats aimed at different audiences.On trust and transparency, and why journalists need to collaborateClaudia’s favourite AI tools with examples from Spain, Argentina and Venezuela On the future of journalism -
In this episode, I am talking to Chris Roper, Deputy CEO of Code for Africa and Amanda Strydom, Senior Programme Manager for CivicSignal, a programme within Code for Africa, which maps and offers insights into media ecosystems in Africa using research and machine learning tools. We talked about how the newsrooms they work with apply AI in their professional life. What are the AI-related issues that African newsrooms are truggling with and what kind of solutions are they coming up with?
Code for Africa is also well-known for their work in tackling mis- and disinformation. Chris and Amanda talk about different ways their organisation is helping African journalists to fight disinformation in a foundational way and what’s the role of AI in it.
Main topics we’ve discussed in this episode:
-The role of AI in helping journalists and citizens tackle mis/disinformation
-Generational differences in perceiving misinformation
-Ethical policies of using AI in a newsroom: how to approach them
-Who owns your data which you share with AI tools
-The environmental effect of AI
-Life hacks from Chris and Amanda: how to use AI in a storytelling context
-The future of AI and how it will shape the future of journalism
-Does AI create more inequality in the Global South
-What help journalists can get from Code for Africa and how they can collaborate with the organisation
-AI-related regulations and laws: the ideal and real scenarios
-The importance of AI tools in investigative journalism
-Exciting AI projects Chris and Amanda are working on now
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AI-Fluent is my new podcast where I talk with storytellers from around the world about journalism and storytelling in all its shapes and forms, its marriage with AI and other technology, and innovative thinking.
Most of my guests are from the Global South, so it's a rare opportunity to listen to people with different perspectives, different challenges, and solutions they have to offer. New episode every Friday
