AI Safeguards Become Standard in Newsroom Contracts
CBS News 24/7's union won AI protections this week that signal a shift in labor negotiations across the media industry. The three-year contract requires the company to notify staff about new generative AI systems and allows journalists to withhold bylines on AI-produced work.
The deal reflects broader pressure. ProPublica employees staged a walkout this month over AI provisions in contract talks. The New York Times Guild held a silent protest at a company all-hands meeting, holding signs demanding "Real A.I. Guard Rails" alongside traditional labor demands like "Fair Wages."
Jon Schleuss, president of NewsGuild-CWA, said the trend is structural, not temporary. "I think every single newsroom contract going forward will mention artificial intelligence," he told TheWrap.
More than 70 newsroom contracts have addressed AI since late 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT. Environmental news site Grist was among the first to hammer out AI language in 2023.
Where newsrooms see value-and risk
Journalists have used AI tools to analyze voluminous legislative records and court documents like the Epstein files. Newsrooms are experimenting with ways to produce deeply reported stories using the technology.
But some outlets have introduced tools to write articles or improve efficiency without clear safeguards, sparking staff backlash. McClatchy newspapers like the Miami Herald and Charlotte Observer face concerns over a new "content scaling agent," according to reporting this week.
Fear of job loss and erosion of public trust drive union demands. Recent instances of AI misuse in newsrooms have reinforced those concerns.
Schleuss noted that unions have negotiated technological change for decades-computer use in the 1980s and 90s raised similar questions. But the pace of AI development has compressed the timeline. Without federal or state regulations, he said, "the only way to regulate it is in our workplace."
Trump administration targets journalists at White House dinner
President Donald Trump will address the White House Correspondents' Association on April 25, facing a room of journalists he has mocked, sued, and in some cases, targeted for prosecution.
The Guardian invited independent journalist Georgia Fort, who was charged with conspiracy and interfering with worshippers' rights while covering an anti-ICE protest in January at a St. Paul church. The outlet said the invitation sends a message about press freedom during a presidency marked by "unprecedented threats to journalists."
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon, also charged in the same case, said he won't attend. "I'm not interested in dressing up in a tuxedo, sipping champagne, and pretending everything is normal with a president and a regime that spends every day attacking, undermining and trying to discredit journalists and journalism," he said.
Fox reporter navigates Trump's verbal attacks
Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich has drawn Trump's ire repeatedly. He called her "absolutely terrible" last year and suggested she should work for CNN instead.
Heinrich will lead the White House Correspondents' Association while continuing to cover the president. "You might as well stab me in the heart," she joked about the timing.
Trump reserves nicknames for journalists who displease him. The New York Times' Maggie Haberman is "Maggot Haberman." ABC's George Stephanopoulos is "George Slopadopoulus."
Defense Secretary's Biblical misquote draws mockery
Pete Hegseth compared the press corps to the Pharisees who opposed Jesus while defending his coverage of the Iran conflict. He accused journalists of playing up casualties to make Trump "look bad."
The comparison took a turn when a video surfaced showing Hegseth had recited a modified version of Ezekiel 25:17-the famous passage Samuel L. Jackson delivers in the film "Pulp Fiction" before shooting someone. He presented it as scripture.
CBS's Stephen Colbert mocked the moment on air, delivering his own prayer filled with movie quotes. "War is like a box of chocolates. I am tired of these motherf-kin' sins on my motherf-kin' soul," he said, mixing lines from "Forrest Gump" and Jackson's monologue.
For writers: Understanding AI in your newsroom
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