Journalism's twisted tug-of-war with AI
As publishers strike deals and file lawsuits, an uneasy alliance gets more complicated
While researching the AI vs. News Media segment for my 2024 recap podcast last month, I was struck by how many major publishers had struck deals with OpenAI. Names like Condé Nast, Hearst and The Atlantic jumped out—a surprising alignment with the very technology that has sparked fear and litigation in the business.
Contrast this with two landmark lawsuits against OpenAI: one by the New York Times and another by a coalition of Canadian news publishers, including The Canadian Press, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Postmedia, and CBC/Radio-Canada. At first glance, the divide between pro- and anti-AI camps seemed clear.
But today, the plot thickens. Some of the very companies that previously partnered with OpenAI are now suing an unnamed AI developer. The claims? Copyright infringement, unauthorized scraping of content and even verbatim copy-pasting of entire segments.
On the surface, this could be about protecting the exclusivity of their agreements with OpenAI. But it also raises a deeper, more philosophical question: Are news organizations genuinely committed to shaping the AI media landscape, or are they opportunistically picking battles to safeguard their bottom lines? Why do publishers seem to be talking out of both sides of their mouths—simultaneously lambasting and celebrating AI’s reliance on their content?
Take for example, the Washington Post. Its recent mission statement, “Riveting Storytelling for All of America,” has been widely criticized as corporate jargon devoid of substance. Once a beacon of progressive journalism, the newspaper has seen significant audience decline since owner Jeff Bezos began steering it toward a vision more aligned with Silicon Valley’s tech utopianism—as that vision dovetails with Donald Trump’s promises for AI development. Critics argue this pivot sacrifices the Post’s journalistic integrity in favor of AI-driven clickbait slop.
My grain of thought
It’s promising to see news media grapple with the ethics and economics of AI integration. As someone who’s worked in the media industry for two decades, I’ve witnessed similar struggles over digital content, video, SEO, and algorithm worship. News publishers often behave like belles of the ball—fending off, yet courting, every new technological suitor that promises salvation for dwindling readerships. AI is just the latest in a long line of supposed panaceas, and this dance with disruption reveals as much about media’s desperation as it does about its adaptability.
How news publishers reconcile these contradictions will shape the role of journalism in an AI-dominated future. Will they lead with integrity or get swept up in the tide of short-term gains? Time, and the next round of lawsuits, will tell.