Cleveland's Plain Dealer uses AI to write news stories, sparking backlash from journalists
The Plain Dealer, Cleveland's largest newspaper, has begun publishing articles drafted by artificial intelligence. Stories about an ice carving festival, a medical discovery, and a pack of chicken-slaying dogs now carry the byline "Advance Local Express Desk," signaling AI involvement. A note at the bottom of each piece reads: "This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff."
The experiment has triggered sharp criticism across the news industry. In February, the paper's editor Chris Quinn published a column defending the practice, saying AI frees up reporters' time for reporting that machines cannot do. "By removing writing from reporters' workloads, we've effectively freed up an extra workday for them each week," he wrote.
The response was swift. Former Financial Times editor Lionel Barber called the approach "beyond dumb." An Axios reporter criticized a job applicant who withdrew from a reporting fellowship after learning the position involved "filing notes to an AI writing tool" rather than writing. A HuffPost editor suggested Quinn should resign.
How the Plain Dealer uses AI
Quinn has implemented AI tools across the newsroom over three years: transcribing government meetings, scraping municipal websites for story leads, suggesting headlines, and turning reporter podcasts into articles. The latest step - using AI to draft full news stories from reporter notes - has generated the most friction.
In January, Quinn hired an editor to oversee a new AI "rewrite desk," modeled on a traditional newsroom role. Instead of hiring human writers, the Plain Dealer uses a generative ChatGPT tool to draft stories. A human editor reviews the draft and sends it to the reporter for final review before publication.
The paper currently uses this system mostly for brief stories from Cleveland's suburbs in Lorain, Lake, and Geauga counties - hyperlocal coverage the paper lost when it closed outlying bureaus over a decade ago. Reporters in these areas now file four stories a day with AI assistance.
Hannah Drown, a Plain Dealer reporter, used an AI tool that scans school board meeting transcripts to identify a story about high school overcrowding. That alert led to a larger feature she wrote about how rapid growth was straining city services. She later filed notes about the possible repossession of sheriff's cruisers to the AI rewrite desk, which helped produce a 600-word article. "It's tagging in my teammate," Drown said. "I still outline the story. I still decide what the news is and what the tone should be."
Staff concerns about quality and jobs
Four current and former Plain Dealer journalists, speaking anonymously, said the AI push has damaged editorial quality and staff morale. One staffer said that when the newsroom gained access to a paid ChatGPT account in 2025, Quinn encouraged "unfettered use" of the tool, resulting in AI-generated stories with minimal editorial oversight despite claims of thorough fact-checking.
Quinn disputed this, saying every AI-drafted story is reviewed by both a reporter and an editor. But other staffers worry the technology could eliminate jobs currently held by junior reporters, copyeditors, and proofreaders. One journalist noted that performance reviews now flag insufficient AI use, even for those making efforts to adopt the technology.
The newsroom has shrunk from roughly 400 employees in the late 1990s to 71 today. Quinn said the AI tools are helping the paper retain staff at a time when competitors are closing. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 130 miles east, announced in January it will shut down this spring.
What experts say
Felix Simon, who researches AI and digital news at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, said the Plain Dealer is among the first mainstream newsrooms to systematically automate the writing process. His research shows most people prefer human-written journalism to AI-generated content, though attitudes could shift if readers find value in the articles.
Nick Diakopoulos, a professor of communication studies and computer science at Northwestern University, said AI has proven useful for investigative reporters analyzing data. But using it to write news stories is unproven. "I am worried that if an organization like the Cleveland Plain Dealer comes to rely on AI for writing a lot of content, people are going to miss out on the nuance of what happens in their community," Diakopoulos said.
AI tools struggle with evaluating source credibility, understanding what matters to a community, and identifying a story's main takeaway - core elements of local journalism.
The cautionary history
Since ChatGPT launched in 2022, several news organizations have published AI-generated articles containing fabrications. In May, the Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer apologized for running a syndicated reading list that recommended nonexistent books with fabricated quotes. Business Insider retracted dozens of stories by a freelancer suspected of using AI-generated articles under a fake byline.
Quinn said the Plain Dealer's AI rewrite desk has not experienced such problems. "We don't trust the AI for any original stuff," he said. "Humans are in control of every step of the process."
The paper's deeper reporting still relies primarily on human writers. Quinn said part of the experiment is determining where to draw the line - which stories are too complex for the AI rewrite system to handle efficiently.
For writers and journalists, the Plain Dealer's approach raises concrete questions: What tasks will AI handle in your newsroom? How will quality be maintained? And what does the future of reporting look like when machines draft routine stories?
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