Insider Union rallIES against AI-generated journalism
NewsGuild of New York-represented journalists at Business Insider rallied outside company headquarters at One Liberty Plaza in NYC on Dec. 3 to protest management’s planned roll-out of AI-generated news stories.
Earlier this year, Business Insider President Barbara Peng announced mass layoffs of 26% of union-represented jobs and vowed that the company would be “fully embracing” and “going all-in on” AI. She’s keeping her promise – BI is aiming to publish 60 “stories” produced by artificial intelligence and edited by non-union managers per month.
Dozens of Insider Union members rallied in the bitter cold and were joined by allies including NY State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez. A former tech worker and current Chair of the NY Senate’s Internet and Technology Committee, Sen. Gonzalez has helped pass legislation to regulate the government's use of AI and protect private health data.
“When we went on strike more than two years ago to win our first contract, many of us held signs that said ‘Don’t replace me with ChatGPT. And yet, it now appears that Business Insider management and their parent company, German publishing house Axel Springer, wants to do exactly that: replace our unit’s work with AI-generated slop.
— Alex Nicoll, senior reporter at Business Insider and a steward for Insider Union
Unionized nonprofit newsrooms stand shoulder-to-shoulder demanding AI protections
A new national caucus of nonprofit media workers has united to agree to common-sense guardrails around the implementation of artificial intelligence to protect the integrity, quality and accuracy of their journalism. They authored an open letter to execs at nonprofits to demand these guardrails.
Reuters Guild members spread the word about the dangers of AI — and their need for a fair contract
NewsGuild of New York-represented workers at Reuters braved the cold to share an important message with those headed in to attend a corporate event hosted by Reuters’ execs in NYC: “We deserve a fair contract that includes AI job protections. We stand for people-powered journalism.”
