McClatchy’s Machine Mindset (Status, January 7, 2025)

A recent meeting with McClatchy executives left union leaders stunned and deeply alarmed about how the company wishes to implement A.I. in the newsroom, Status has learned.

Indeed, if management gets their way, McClatchy—the 168-year-old company behind major local newspapers such as The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, and Charlotte Observer—would become one of the most aggressive adopters of A.I. in American journalism. The shift would mean that subscribers across the country could open their local newspaper to find machine-generated stories about their communities, replacing the work of journalists who have long understood their neighborhoods.

“They won’t agree to some things that we think are common sense,” Bryan Clark, Idaho Statesman opinion writer and president of the PNW Newspaper Guild negotiating with McClatchy, told Status, adding that six months into talks, “we’re hitting the most contentious part” when it comes to A.I. protections.

Questions of accuracy arise as Washington Post uses AI to create personalized podcasts (NPR, December 13, 2025)

As technically sophisticated as that sounds, there are many questions about the new podcast's accuracy — even its ability to correctly pronounce the names of Post journalists it cites. Semafor reported that errors, cited by staffers at the Post, included "misattributing or inventing quotes and inserting commentary, such as interpreting a source's quotes" as the paper's own stance.

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In a statement, the Washington Post Guild — which represents newsroom employees and other staff — tells NPR, "We are concerned about this new product and its rollout," alleging that it undermines the Post's mission and its journalists' work.

Washington Post’s AI-generated podcasts rife with errors, fictional quotes (Semafor, December 11, 2025)

“It is truly astonishing that this was allowed to go forward at all,” one Post editor wrote on Slack. “Never would I have imagined that the Washington Post would deliberately warp its own journalism and then push these errors out to our audience at scale. And just days after the White House put up a site dedicated to attacking journalists, most notably our own, including for stories with corrections or editors notes attached. If we were serious we would pull this tool immediately.”

The Post’s A.I. ‘Disaster’ (status, December 11, 2025)

Staffers at The Washington Post jumped into the newsroom’s standards Slack channel, sounding alarms over the paper’s new A.I.-generated podcast feature, which debuted this week and was already shaping up to be a fiasco. The Post’s head of product, Bailey Kattleman, had touted the tool as a way for subscribers to build a custom audio show, in which listeners could select topics, episode length, even preferred hosts. But the A.I.-powered feature, which The Post excitedly hyped to the press, quickly proved to be far less reliable than the journalists whose work it was drawing from to deliver the news.

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"Would love to hear the justification for 'it's product no journalism' when we are putting words in peoples mouths, especially if it happens on an incredibly litigious and fraught coverage area like mine and journalists are the ones facing the consequences," another Postie wrote.

NewsGuild launches campaign to challenge AI-driven content (The Word, December 5, 2025)

There isn’t really a good way to reduce bias in AI tools. The idea that you’re going to have a generative AI that’s good is a fantasy. Generative AI will get better, but it’s never going to get good, explained data journalist Meredith Broussard at the online AI Town Hall. She is also a professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and the research director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology.

Her advice? “Don’t use generative AI for anything customer-facing. Don’t use it for anything that requires accuracy.”

Journalists win a key battle over AI in the newsroom (Blood in the Machine, December 3, 2025)

This is an important ruling on a number of fronts. First and most immediately, it means that Politico has to engage the newsroom over its AI use, and bargain with the union about how it will do so. AKA Politico has to get input from the reporters, writers, and editors actually doing the journalism on how they want (or don’t want) to see AI used in their workplaces. Any AI integration must be democratic, in other words, just how industry advocates are always saying it should be.

Second, it stands to set a meaningful precedent for how journalists and workers can successfully push back against undisclosed, reputation-damaging, and labor-threatening AI products. Politico is owned by the multinational conglomerate Axel Springer, which also owns Business Insider, BILD, and Morning Brew, and is one of the most aggressively pro-AI in media. This kind of organizing is one of the most effective—and for now, perhaps one of the only—ways to help pump the brakes on management’s overzealous use of AI.

Politico journalists fight back over AI tools that published ‘glaring errors’ (PressGazette, December 2, 2025)

“Capitol AI Report-Builder generated 500-word reports, complete with headlines and citations to journalists’ bylined work, without any editorial review, despite containing glaring errors and misinterpretations that would not meet newsroom standards.

“In both cases, Politico failed to give the Guild the required notice or opportunity to bargain.”

Politico/E&E News journalists win AI arbitration case (Talking Biz News, December 1, 2025)

In a detailed decision, the arbitrator found Politico violated the collective bargaining agreement when it launched two AI-driven products — a “Live Summaries” feature used during the 2024 Democratic National Convention and Vice Presidential Debate, and the Capitol AI Report-Builder tool for Politico Pro subscribers — without providing required notice, bargaining, or human oversight, as required by the contract.

This case marks one of the nation’s first major labor-arbitration rulings addressing the impact of AI on journalists’ work, setting an important precedent for the entire U.S. news industry.

Politico management violated key AI adoption safeguards, arbitrator finds (NiemanLab, December 1, 2025)

In a clear-cut ruling, the arbitrator found that Politico management violated both of these terms when it rolled out two recent AI-powered editorial products.

“If the goal is speed and the cost is accuracy and accountability, AI is the clear winner. If accuracy and accountability is the baseline, then AI, as used in these instances, cannot yet rival the hallmarks of human output,” the arbitrator wrote in his ruling, which was reviewed by Nieman Lab.

A.I. Sweeps Through Newsrooms, but Is It a Journalist or a Tool? (New York Times, November 7, 2025)

Newsroom unions have channeled many journalists’ concerns about A.I.’s replacing them. The NewsGuild, a labor union for journalists, has worked on 48 collective bargaining agreements since late 2023 involving A.I. in some way, whether around job security or guardrails for its use, said Jon Schleuss, the organization’s president.

“We actually need something that’s legally enforceable since there are no regulations on it, but you can regulate it through collective bargaining,” Mr. Schleuss said.

In one of the first tests of those protections, unionized journalists at Politico and its sister publication, E&E News, accused the company of violating their contract by using A.I.-generated live coverage without notifying the union and using A.I. to build reports for subscribers. The complaint is now in arbitration. A Politico spokeswoman declined to comment.

Business Insider attempts AI reporter, human journalists push back (The NewsGuild, November 7, 2025)

Last week Business Insider quietly rolled out an artificially intelligent “author” and journalists got loud. The company, which is controlled by Axel Springer in Germany, launched a byline page for “Business Insider AI” with a description that the “byline uses generative AI tools to draft news stories so we can bring readers more information, more quickly.”

The union AI subcommittee at Business Insider, which is part of The NewsGuild of New York, quickly activated and started having conversations across the newsroom. They made a flyer and dropped a graphic in person and on social media. 

Business Insider reportedly tells journalists they can use AI to draft stories (The Verge, September 17, 2025)

Business Insider has been quick to embrace AI in support of its business. It appointed an AI newsroom lead and implemented an array of initiatives like an AI search tool, for example, and parent company Axel Springer inked licensing deals with tech companies like OpenAI and Microsoft.

Wired and Business Insider remove articles by AI-generated ‘freelancer’ (The Guardian, August 21, 2025)

Multiple news organisations have taken down articles written by an alleged freelance journalist that now appear to have been generated by AI.

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Wired published a story titled “They Fell in Love Playing Minecraft. Then the Game Became Their Wedding Venue” in May. A few weeks later, the outlet took down the story, stating in an editor’s note: “After an additional review of the article … Wired editorial leadership has determined this article does not meet our editorial standards.”

Politico’s Newsroom Is Starting a Legal Battle With Management Over AI (WIRED, May 22, 2025)

Last year, Politico began publishing AI-generated live news summaries during big political events like the Democratic National Convention and the US vice presidential debates. This March, it debuted a suite of AI tools called Policy Intelligence Assistance for paying subscribers, which were built in partnership with the Y Combinator-backed startup Capitol AI. Politico executive Rachel Loeffler described the initiative at the time as “seamlessly integrating generative AI with our unmatched policy expertise.”

Politico union members, however, allege these tools violated their contract in several ways, and are taking the dispute to arbitration this July. “The company is required to give us 60 days notice of any use of new technology that will materially and substantively impact bargaining unit job duties,” says PEN union chair and E&E public health reporter Ariel Wittenberg. The union claims that it was given neither notice nor an opportunity to bargain in good faith over Politico’s AI rollout, and that the tools do work that would ordinarily be done by human staff.

Meet AdVon, the AI-Powered Content Monster Infecting the Media Industry (Futurism, May 8, 2024)

Or consider an AdVon review of a microwave oven published in South Carolina’s Rock Hill Herald, which made a similarly peculiar error. The first portion of the article is indeed about microwaves, but then inexplicably changes gears to conventional ovens, with no explanation for the shift. 

In the FAQ — remember, the piece is titled “Amazon Basics Microwave Review” — it even assures readers that “yes, you can use aluminum foil in your oven.”

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After the Gannett staff called out AdVon’s work at USA Today — allegations that garnered scrutiny everywhere from the Washington Post to the New York Times — the fictional names on the company’s reviews started disappearing. They were replaced with the names of people who did seem to be real — and who, we noticed, frequently had close personal ties to AdVon’s CEO, a serial media entrepreneur named Ben Faw. 

Did A.I. Write Product Reviews? Gannett Says No. (New York Times, October 27, 2023)

One of those programs, Winston AI, found that three articles had a “zero percent human score,” indicating that they, most likely, were not written by a human, according to the union. Another had a 1 percent human score.

One of the articles with a zero percent human score was a recommendation for the best portable trampoline.

“Searching for the best portable trampoline can be daunting,” the review said. “Luckily, this buying guide features all the essential factors to consider while shopping. Regularly using a trampoline can help improve balance, coordination, and agility.”

Mysterious bylines appeared on a USA Today site. Did these writers exist? (Washington Post, October 26, 2023)

“It’s gobbledygook compared to the stuff that we put out on a daily basis,” he said. “None of these robots tested any of these products.”

The Reviewed controversy comes as many media organizations ramp up product review sites, such as the New York Times-owned Wirecutter, which get a cut on sales made through online retailers like Amazon that their stories link to. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer sits on Amazon’s board.)

But Gannett insists the articles weren’t AI-generated. In a statement to The Post, a spokesperson said the articles — many of which have now been deleted — were created through a deal with a marketing firm to generate paid search-engine traffic. While Gannett concedes the original articles “did not meet our affiliate standards,” officials deny they were written by AI.