Blog Post #1
Welcome to my editor!
My name is Lily Fadell, and I’m very excited to be taking this class! I am super passionate about journalism and writing in general, but I don't know much when it comes to digital journalism, so I think this class will teach me a lot. I’m looking forward to improving my skills surrounding the intertwinement of journalism and technology. It feels like in every one of my classes this past year, my professor has said that it is extremely important to be a multifaceted writer who is able to work on a plethora of different platforms. That has always scared me a bit because I feel like I don't know much at all about tech in journalism, so this class will be a huge help.
I am also very excited to write my evergreen story. I feel like I have rarely written pieces that remain timely, therefore I believe this will be a great experience for me. I also really like that this is a story we will be developing over the course of the entire semester rather than a few weeks. It feels like I’m going to be able to really get into my interviewing and reporting, which is awesome. I think this class will be a great opportunity for me to develop my skills, and improve as a well-rounded journalist. Looking forward to getting to know you better as well!
Blog #2
My first update on my final story project…
My story is starting to come together pretty well. I have spoken to almost all of my sources, just need to talk to one more. My first interview with Alicia Shapiro, the CMO of AI News went really well. Ran a little long (almost an hour…), but she provided great insight on what it means to really understand and implement AI into writing stories. She talked about how she uses AI to help her find repeatable sources, build her story outline, actually write aspects of her stories and then in the editorial process. Her perspective on how AI is becoming essential to newsrooms was really interesting. Then I talked to Bella Ross, a reporter for San Diego Times, and she was able to tell me about how a professional newsroom is navigating ethical guides when it comes to AI. She talked a lot about her personal aversion to AI, and how she doesn’t really like to use it at all in her stories. Very interesting to see how some writers' opinions differ so heavily. I then spoke to Lourdes Chacon, and she gave me a great idea of what AI looks like for educators in journalism. Very confusing, complicated and an ever changing curriculum. It was really interesting to see how teachers view AI right now. My final source will be Lynn Walsh, a journalist who works for Trusting News. I’m not exactly sure what kind of perspective she’ll be able to show me, but I’m really interested in what she has to say about AI in journalism because her company is all about being transparent with readers.
Blog Post #3
A second little update on my final story project…
I have now spoken to all of my sources, and I am beginning to put my story together. I think I am going to split it into three headlines total. The first will be something about how news organizations are trying to help their audiences understand what AI usage in newsrooms looks like. Lynn Walsh was able to provide me with a lot of awesome information about how her organization is reaching out to readers to aid them in learning more about AI literacy. I want my next subhead to be about how newsrooms are taking on the challenges of AI and how they use it in their writing. Alicia Shapiro and Bella Ross had very different stances on how AI should be used, so I wanted to compare and contrast their perspectives in this section. I think my final subhead will be about how artificial intelligence in the classroom is being handled from the perspective of a journalism professor. I think for all college programs AI is a huge topic of discussion, but journalism is a much harder one to tackle because these educators are teaching writing skills, which most people think AI can easily replace. Overall, I’m really confident and excited to see how my final story turns out. I learned a lot along the way, and I’m genuinely looking forward to writing my final project.
Final Blog Post
A last little update on my final story project…
I’m currently finished with my evergreen story, which is focused on AI in journalism ranging from reading compression, newsroom struggles to classroom implementation. I’m feeling pretty good and also proud of my story as a whole. I spoke to some really cool people throughout the process, and became really informed on what AI in journalism is beginning to look like as the technology progresses. Some of my sources wanted me to send them my finished story which is a little nerve wracking, but I’m definitely going to send it their way once I have it fully tweaked.
I am a little stressed about the multimedia elements of the story. I’m planning on getting my image this week and I already have completed one of my infographics, but that leaves an additional image and one other multimedia element. I have yet to figure out what I would like to do for these, so I need to figure that out soon. I’m going into class this Wednesday during open lab to make sure that my website has all of the correct components/assignments on it so I can ensure it is ready for submission.