AI is rapidly transforming journalism, from high school newspapers to national publications Reporters and editors are wrestling with AI’s potential and downsides.
Student journalists and their advisors are at the forefront of this technological revolution. As publications from high school newspapers to national magazines experiment with AI-generated content, the fundamental question remains: Can technology enhance journalism without replacing the human touch?
Vogue recently raised some eyebrows after the recent August edition of their publication featured an ad from Guess that included AI models. This sparked a new conversation about whether or not the usage of AI in journalism is ethical.
Sarah Nichols, advisor of Whitney Update, the news site at Whitney High School, believes AI has both opportunities and drawbacks for student journalism. While she acknowledges that tools like AI can make certain tasks faster, she stresses that it should never replace the process of reporting and writing.
“AI can feel like a shortcut, but journalism is really about developing your own voice and doing the work to find the truth,” Nichols said. “If students rely on AI too much, they miss out on the critical thinking and creativity that journalism is supposed to teach.”
Nichols said that she encourages her staff to see AI, if used at all, as a brainstorming tool rather than a writing substitute.
“It is fine to use AI for ideas or inspiration when you are stuck,” she said. “But the story has to be yours. Your interviews, your perspective, your effort.”
For Nichols, embracing new technology doesn’t mean abandoning the core principles of journalism. She emphasizes that critical thinking is essential, but technological tools can enhance how journalists form their questions.
“Critical thinking skills are always going to be at the core of what a journalist does, but now there are certain ways of utilizing technology or emerging tools that make it more important to know the right question to ask,” Nichols said.
At the same time, she recognizes that AI can be used responsibly. She said, “There are some safe, fair, legal, ethical within full integrity uses of journalism the same way that we embrace other tools, because they make our jobs better and easier.”
Jacob Odell, the Editor in Chief of the Eye of the Tiger newspaper at Roseville High School, said their publication has strayed away from the usage of AI in any aspect of their stories. He claimed it “makes people unaware of their full potential” and “takes away the personal touch.”
“I feel like it makes (journalists) a lot more lazy, and it definitely removes the just whole creative sense and makes everything feel a lot less human,” Odell said.
Regardless of the size of the publication, Odell stated he thinks AI should be left out of the journalist process altogether, even when it comes to using it as a creative crutch for certain parts of the stories.
“The only time I would ever really see how it could be useful is if a reporter is really struggling to come up with a headline for a story,” Odell said. “And if they came to me with that problem, (…) I would highly encourage them to brainstorm harder for a headline.”
From Vogue to the Eye of the Tiger, AI can improve the efficiency of the journalistic process. However, journalists still believe that it is their duty to write the article themselves.
“I feel like individuals who are genuinely interested in reading the school paper should deserve to know if they’re reading something made by a hardworking human or if they’re just reading something that is by artificial intelligence,” Odell said.
