TLDR: The American Journalism Project (AJP) has released a new ‘field guide’ designed to help local newsrooms responsibly evaluate and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This initiative, supported by a $5 million grant from OpenAI, aims to cut through the complexity of the burgeoning AI vendor market, offering practical insights, pros and cons, and real-world usage examples from AJP’s grantee organizations.
In a significant move to bolster the capabilities of local journalism, the American Journalism Project (AJP) has launched a comprehensive ‘field guide’ aimed at assisting newsrooms in navigating the rapidly expanding landscape of AI vendors. The guide provides practical information and reviews of various AI tools, empowering local news organizations to make informed decisions about adopting these technologies responsibly.
The initiative comes as AI products targeting journalists and news publishers have flooded the market, creating a challenge for newsrooms to identify suitable and ethical tools. The AJP’s new resource seeks to demystify this process, offering a curated perspective rather than blanket recommendations.
This effort is spearheaded by AJP’s AI and Product Studio, which began its work in 2022 by providing grants and coaching to local newsrooms for AI experimentation. The Studio itself was officially launched in July 2023, made possible by a substantial $5 million donation from OpenAI, with additional support from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. This funding underscores a shared commitment to exploring how AI can support a thriving, innovative local news field and ensure that local news organizations play a role in shaping the future of this emerging technology.
The field guide is a culmination of extensive research, drawing on learnings from AJP’s grantees—including Sahan Journal, Spotlight PA, and The City—as well as phone and email interviews, product trials, and insights from experts at organizations like The Lenfest Institute, Big Local News, and Microsoft.
Among the initial tools featured in the guide are several AI applications designed to transcribe and summarize local government meetings, such as Local Lens, See Gov, and City Meetings NYC. For instance, Chalkbeat’s experiments with Local Lens demonstrated its utility for beat reporters in Michigan to monitor multiple school board districts. The guide also highlights tools like Hamlet, which goes beyond transcription to synthesize data on relevant real estate projects and voting histories of commissioners, though it notes limitations such as availability only in cities with active real estate development.
For each tool, the guide meticulously lists both its advantages and disadvantages, outlines its functionalities, and identifies which AJP grantees have already utilized it. This approach emphasizes sharing learned experiences to facilitate informed decision-making rather than dictating specific choices.
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The broader objective of the AJP’s Product & AI Studio is to ensure that emerging technologies are leveraged in service of more accessible, high-quality, and affordable journalism in the public interest. While AI presents significant opportunities—such as facilitating deeper analysis of public data, strengthening user experience, and developing new information formats—it also poses challenges related to misinformation, bias, privacy, and copyright. Through this partnership and the new field guide, AJP aims to build a robust support structure for community-driven local news organizations to expand their capacities through AI while actively mitigating these risks.
