MEDIA RELEASE
10 July 2024
While many newsrooms are now turning to AI tools to review news content, the role of human journalists and editors in verifying and proofing news articles is more important than ever.
The service is available to all Australian newsrooms on a pay-per-article basis, with a subsidised rate for LINA member publishers.
LINA Executive Director Claire Stuchbery said the role of editors cannot be replaced by AI, despite improvements in this technology.
“We recently held our annual summit for publishers and other media stakeholders, and a big focus of the week was on training delegates in AI platforms and other technology that can be fantastic tools to support the work of journalists and publishers,” Stuchbery said.
“However, with the uptake of this technology we are learning that having real humans reviewing and verifying content remains absolutely key to mitigating rising mis and disinformation.”
Supporting quality, accessible news media is essential to combating this threat. Local and independent news outlets are particularly well-placed to identify misinformation circulating in their area. Strengthened by local knowledge, connections and reciprocal trust within the communities they serve, they can investigate and report the truth quickly and efficiently.
But newsrooms themselves also now face extra challenges in verifying and fact-checking. As SBS Director of News and Current Affairs Mandi Wicks explained in the newly released Digital News Report: Australia 2024, “the role is increasingly falling to news publishers to report on the news of the day, to combat ‘fake news’ and to moderate hate speech on their social media profiles, comments which are often AI-generated via bots”.
A not-for-profit industry association formed in 2021, LINA aims to assist newsrooms with capacity building support and services that promote the production of public interest journalism.
Over the past few months, LINA has been advising the government on actions they could take to mitigate the negative impacts social media platforms can have on individuals and society. This includes support that enables local and independent news publishers to contribute to growing media literacy, strengthening democracy and providing essential trusted and relevant information services to communities.
LINA’s centralised sub-editing service supports newsrooms under pressure to perform this role, generating economies of scale and access to a pool of skilled sub-editors.
The new LINA sub-editing team consists of five junior sub-editors who are developing their skills, and five highly experienced sub-editors, with cost for newsrooms tiered on this basis.
To help develop valuable industry skills, junior sub-editors are currently undergoing a 10 week editing mentorship hosted by the Community Media Training Organisation (CMTO), in partnership with LINA, and senior sub-editors are hosting fortnightly seminars to share their knowledge.
Media contact:
Claire Stuchbery
E: claire.stuchbery@lina.org.au
M: 0403 520 765
Nell O’Shea Carré
E: nell.oshea.carre@lina.org.au
About LINA:
The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) is an industry association supporting digital, hyperlocal and independent news publishers. Their mission is to increase the diversity and relevance of news services in communities across Australia by providing new and existing hyperlocal media entrants with capacity building support, expert advice, access to critical third-party services, and more.
For more information about LINA and its initiatives, visit lina.org.au.