Poynter launches first AI leadership cohort for smaller newsrooms
Thirty-three journalists and newsroom leaders will develop practical adoption plans while tackling trust, disclosure and editorial integrity.
The Poynter Institute has announced the first 33-member cohort for Leading AI in the Newsroom, a programme aimed at journalists and newsroom leaders guiding artificial-intelligence adoption in small and medium-sized news organizations.
The course is intended for people their organizations consult about AI even as they are learning to navigate the technology themselves. It combines leadership development with AI training, seeking to help participants build trust with skeptical colleagues, handle resistance to change and work across organizational silos.
Poynter said the programme will address editorial integrity, job security and ethical implementation. Its stated aim is to introduce AI responsibly while preserving trust, transparency and editorial standards.
Participants will start with a two-day in-person workshop in Los Angeles at the end of October, hosted by Arizona State University’s Center for Media & Communities. Four live virtual sessions will follow through early December. Alex Mahadevan, Tony Elkins, Kelly McBride and Sitara Nieves will lead the cohort.
The curriculum includes case studies, peer discussions and collaborative workshops for developing AI strategies. Poynter’s AI Ethics Guidebook will underpin assessments of risks and opportunities, while participants will also devise benchmarks to measure the effects of their AI initiatives.
Benjamin Toff will present research on how audiences perceive AI in journalism, including disclosure, transparency and feedback. Christine DiGangi will discuss how newsrooms can evaluate AI experiments and decide which projects to keep or discontinue. Each participant is expected to leave with an implementation plan tailored to their own newsroom.
A study of policies at 52 news organizations found about nine in 10 required disclosure of AI use in a story or investigation. The research also found strong emphasis on journalistic ethics, transparency and human supervision, while roughly half of the policies warned journalists against putting unpublished work into AI chatbots.
The initiative is funded through the Knight-API Endowment Fund, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the American Press Institute. It is part of Poynter’s broader work on AI guidelines for journalists and news organizations, and Poynter plans to make the cohort’s resulting insights and resources publicly available.