My apologies but there will be no Tuesday Commentary this week. I have a nasty bout of flu (and, yes, I am vaccinated). I plan for the column to return next week.
Author: Gavin Ellis
Gavin Ellis is a media consultant, commentator and researcher. He holds a doctorate in political studies. A former editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Herald, he is the author of Trust Ownership and the Future of News: Media Moguls and White Knights (London, Palgrave) and Complacent Nation (Wellington, BWB Texts). His consultancy clients include media organisations and government ministries. His Tuesday Commentary on media matters appears weekly on his site www.whiteknightnews.com
Herald’s obligation to readers: Why are we waiting?
The New Zealand Herald and its publisher are failing to follow a golden rule: Engage with readers when they question your actions.
The Herald is currently confronted by two controversies. The first is its decision to use artificial intelligence to write editorials. The second is its decision to publish a highly divisive advertising wrap-around paid for by the lobby group Hobson’s Pledge.
In neither case has the newspaper or its owner NZME offered an explanation that justifies its decisions. Indeed, it has given little insight into what its decision-making processes were on either matter.
Following RNZ’s revelations over the Herald’s use of iterative AI to write editorials, the Herald’s reaction was to simply say it did not apply sufficient “journalistic rigour” and that it would be calling a meeting all editorial staff to discuss AI policy. This commentary last week posed a series of questions relating to the processes that went into the publication of those editorials. If they were answered at the staff meeting, neither I nor the Herald’s other readers are any the wiser. Continue reading “Herald’s obligation to readers: Why are we waiting?”
AI-created editorials: What in HAL’s name was the Herald thinking?
Integrity is the most valued element of a news organisation’s reputation. Without it, it cannot expect its audience to lend credence to what it publishes or broadcasts. So, the New Zealand Herald has dealt itself an awful blow.
Its admission that it used generative AI to scrape content and then create an editorial about the All Blacks came only after it was caught out by Radio New Zealand. RNZ’s subsequent revelation that it may have found another three robot editorials in the Herald was met with sullen silence.
All the country’s largest newspaper will say its that it should have employed more “journalistic rigour”.
That is not good enough. It does not explain why the paper made the bizarre choice to employ Gen AI to create what should be its own opinion. It does not explain why there was no disclosure of its use (although to do so on an editorial should raise more red flags than a North Korean Workers Party anniversary). It does not tell us how widespread the practice is within publications owned by NZME (the Herald editorial was reprinted in its regional titles). It does not explain why even the most basic sub-editing was not applied to an obviously deficient piece of writing when editorials have previously been checked and rechecked to prevent the most minor of errors. And it does not reveal what went wrong in the editorial chain of command to allow all or any of the foregoing to occur…or not. Continue reading “AI-created editorials: What in HAL’s name was the Herald thinking?”
Play the game to spread the news
If Albert Einstein could say “Life is just like a game”, who am I to say we shouldn’t treat the news like a game, too?
Traditionalists will say the news is no game. It is a serious matter of fact gathering, verification, and presentation that is not be treated lightly.
However, two pieces I read last week gave me pause for thought: Does gaming have a significant role to play in the future of journalism?
The first piece was an interview that Liam Dann conducted with Dame Wendy Pye for the New Zealand Herald. In it the highly successful educational book publisher said: “I’m really interested in the power of the gaming industry. [Gaming] seems to be occupying a lot of children so what my dream is to have really good educational games … not just something about a giraffe running around with the letter G on the screen or something. Imagine if we can use gaming’s magic and we can marry that with solid education.” She is working with a large Chinese company to develop her idea. If education, I thought, why not journalism?
The second piece was a research report by NZ on Air on Māori audiences. It found that rangitahi (which it characterised as 15 to 24-year-olds), like their Pakeha counterparts, are less likely to engage with television, radio or newspapers and express little interest in traditional news content.They are more likely to consume global online media than New Zealand content. They are arguably harder to reach than other sections of the wider community so present the toughest challenge. However, the same report notes that a third of Māori game online and spend an average of two hours a day doing so. Rangitahi are unsurprisingly the largest gaming group among Māori. That, I thought, could be the key to exposing them to the news. Continue reading “Play the game to spread the news”