AI will force us to be more ambitious, more human storytellers

By Susie Cagle

If you too have access to a Chartbeat, Parse.ly, or other dashboard tracking metrics across a media site this year, you have my condolences and solidarity. The data is grim. News is bleeding readers while the tech giants that had already taken away so much of our audience and control over our work come for the last remaining bits.

It’s tempting to panic, like we have before. To race straight to the bottom. To push for faster, shorter, click-baitier, and more frequent news hits, to increase the churn in hopes of juicing the stats. But all of that just feeds the machines that will never love us back. Every exclusive, every scoop, is hoovered by Gemini the same day, paraphrased and spat back out for news searchers who are increasingly not clicking through to read the news from its actual gatherers.

If we want to win the trust of our readers back, and their clicks along with it, we have to lean instead into what AI cannot be: human. That means providing readers not just with news they know is real and sourced, but with unique storytelling, experience, community, and connection.

The human hands behind news will need to be more obvious. Writing that’s original and fun without being GPT-sycophantic to keep reader interest. Good-as-hell yarns with strong characters and compelling narratives that Claude could never replicate. Beautiful photo essays of real people and places, and illustrations created by actual artists. Bylines that are more clear and prominent. Stories that reflect a view from somewhere in original analysis or perspective. Moderated comments and communities where our fans can connect and create new online third spaces. And a peek behind the curtain, sometimes, to see how the work is done, and allow readers to connect with reporters in a more direct and vulnerable way.

The readers that just wanted us for our headlines and the first graf probably aren’t coming back if that’s all we have to offer them. Luckily, we can do and be so much more. I look forward to reading your best.

Source: Newswire @ AI will force us to be more ambitious, more human storytellers » Nieman Journalism Lab