Journalism in the age of AI, social media, deepfakes, and rush to publish

Will AI take over jobs in the media industry? Do sponsored articles count as journalism? Is the spread of disinformation taking away the credibility of journalistic organisations? These and more burning questions were raised and examined in a panel discussion at MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, on Monday (March 10) by a group of leading figures in the media industry. The discussion, titled ‘Flame wars, Eyeballs, AI: Navigating the Digital Age’, was moderated by Vidya Padmanabhan, Assistant Professor of the Journalism Programme at MOP Vaishnav.

The panel featured distinguished voices of the media and news industry: Indira Balaji, News Editor of The Federal; Anto T Joseph, Resident Editor (TN) of The New Indian Express; and Ram M Sundaram, Assistant Editor at the Times of India.

It was held as part of a conclave titled ‘The Future of News: Technology, Ethics and Other Dimensions’, by the undergraduate journalism programme of MOP Vaishnav. The Federal was the digital media partner of the event.

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The future of journalism

Padmanabhan kicked off the discussion by asking the panel if the future of journalism spells a positive outcome or is full of ‘doom and gloom’. The future does look good, emphasised Sundaram, adding that AI is not a threat.

This sentiment was echoed by Joseph. "I don't think any single technology can replace journalism, as AI is still in a primitive stage in India. AI is a tool that will enable journalism in the long run," he said.

Balaji said AI is making major inroads in Indian journalism, but it is only a tool to make people’s jobs easier. "AI requires human instruction and maintenance to produce a quality output. It cannot replace jobs, though roles may evolve as its usage increases," she observed.

Legitimate content at risk

Padmanabhan raised points regarding the twisting of narratives and spreading of disinformation. "Is there a declining interest in rectifying errors and fact-checking in journalism?" she wondered.

Sundaram spoke of Parasite SEOs and unethical practices by companies that intentionally spread disinformation to get to the top of trends. "It all comes down to the algorithm, and how it favours 'EAT' — Effectiveness, Authenticity and Trust," he explained.

Joseph said the need to put out ‘fresh content’ is putting immense pressure on news organisation, calling it a race against time where speed trumps accuracy. "I don't believe agenda-driven content is journalism. Although the media is the fourth pillar of democracy, it feels like the country is standing on a tripod," he quipped.

Balaji said she believed no reputable news organisation would put out false news deliberately. "Publications should know where to draw the line between the rush to publish and the need to fact-check," she said. "It's important for media outlets to maintain transparency with the readers."

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Short attention spans

Padmanabhan brought up the issue of short attention spans in the current age. "Is the push for short-form content across all platforms leading to the loss of nuance?" she asked the panelists.

"While YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels may break the news, they cannot break down the news," said Sundaram. "Publications may put out Reels and Shorts to catch viewer attention and add the link to the larger story."

Balaji agreed that holding reader/viewer attention is getting increasingly difficult. "Attention spans have gone down across generations — not just among the youth — and this poses a unique challenge," she said.

"I believe if the content is engaging enough, readers and viewers will take the time to read the text story or watch the video story. It is the job of journalists to make the content engaging for their audience," said Joseph.

Sponsored content

Joseph explained how investors are cutting down on print journalism investments and are moving toward more digital platforms with larger viewership. Sundaram spoke about a growing trend of self-acclaimed journalists who use social media to hijack content from news channels and put it on their site, gaining revenue from it.

Paid content is paid news masquerading as news, said Joseph. He predicted that it has a short life-span and is not feasible long-term.

Sundaram said The Times of India takes sponsored content under the appropriate heads. Balaji said The Federal goes to great lengths to distinguish sponsored content from news content in order to maintain trust and transparency with readers.

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Innovative usage of AI

Balaji was asked to explain how The Federal uses AI as a tool to help its journalists. "AI cannot be trusted to write stories or edit copies, but it can be used as an efficient tool to, say, summarise lengthy, complicated documents," she said. She recalled how The Federal first used AI as a translation tool for its Hindi (Desh) Kannada (Karnataka) and two Telugu (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) desks in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Vijayawada, respectively. The publication now uses a proprietary AI tool as an editing aid, but only with human intervention, she explained.

The Times of India is also using AI in the newsroom, said Sundaram, adding that its access to the entire database does not prevent it from making errors. "A drawback of AI is that it ‘hallucinates’ and fills in gaps of information with unverified data," he said.

Both panelists shared the sentiment that while AI is a great tool or assistant, it is not a journalist. Balaji went on to say that AI requires very specific prompts for it to produce acceptable output, and this in itself creates various jobs.

Also read: Use AI to make Indian youth its wielders rather than its victims

Future of journalistic skills

Asked about the job opportunities for journalism students, Balaji said young journalists have plenty to look forward to. With even social media becoming a legitimate platform for journalism, there is a huge need for young talent in the industry, she added.

Joseph said the concept of multimedia has taken on a new colour, and AI is the new ‘in’ thing that will help it evolve into its next form.

Sundaram said the urge to tell the story and talk to people will never change in this field.