The Walkley Foundation presents an eight-part webinar series on AI and journalism, supported by the Walkley Public Fund.

Each session provides an overview of a specific area of journalism, explores opportunities and risks, and provides a practical activity or question about implementation to try out as homework.

Full list of sessions:

1. Get your newsroom AI-Ready for 2024: December 4, 2023
2. Learn about AI for Text Journalists: February 12, 2024
3. AI and Investigative Journalism: 14 March 2024
4. AI for Photojournalists and Video Reporters: 9 April 2024
5. Using AI for Visualised Data and Web Interactives: 16 May 2024
6. AI and Audio Journalism: 6 June 2024
7. AI and Copyright, Media Law, Verification and Fact-Checking: 9 July 2024
8. AI and Newsroom Workflows: 8 August 2024

Session 1 – Get your newsroom AI-ready for 2024

The Walkley Foundation is delighted to present this first webinar in our series to help editors and journalists develop strategies for using AI to support newsgathering and content production. Professor Charlie Beckett, director of the JournalismAI Lab in London, will share findings of a recent global survey of AI use in more than 60 newsrooms.

• Trainer: Professor Charlie Beckett, director of the Polis/LSE JournalismAI project.
• Expert speaker: Saffron Howden, National Editorial Training Manager, Australian Community Media.
• Expert speaker: Gina McKeon, Editor, ABC Innovation Lab.
• Slide Deck and session readings — download here.
• Watch the webinar:

Session 2 – Learn about AI for Text Journalists

This webinar will focus on AI for print and online text journalists. What opportunities do tools like ChatGPT offer and how can they help you do your job? What problems or risks do you need to be aware of?

• Trainer: Dr James Meese, Senior Lecturer at RMIT University. James is part of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S), contributing to projects across the News and Media focus area.
• Expert speaker: Lisa Main, co-author of Gen AI and Journalism, a new report from the Centre for Media Transition at University of Technology Sydney. Lisa will discuss findings of the report, based on interviews with Australian newsroom leaders
• Expert speaker: Craig McCosker, Group Product Manager for Future Focus at ABC Digital Product. Craig will speak about AI initiatives at the ABC including projects for text reporting.
• Handout 1 – Accounts to set up – download here.
• Handout 2 – What is a Large Language Model? download here.
• Handout 3 – LLM Use Cases – examples of how newsrooms are using LLMs – download here.
• Handout 4 – Prompt Engineering – a guide to writing prompts for LLMs like ChatGPT – download here.
• Handout 5 – Homework for Session 1 – download here.
• Watch the webinar:

Session 3 – AI and Investigative Journalism

This webinar will focus on AI for investigative journalism. How can AI tools carry out tasks that are difficult and time-consuming for journalists?

• Trainer: Josh Nicholas, Guardian Australia. Josh is a data journalist for Guardian Australia. He previously worked as a deputy business and economics editor at The Conversation, technology reporter at Business Insider, and was a host and producer on national and community radio.
• Expert speaker: Jaemark Tordecilla, Jaemark is studying AI at Harvard University – from its use to improve newsroom production processes to navigating the landmines of the nascent technology as it relates to journalism and the media industry. Prior to starting his Nieman Fellowship, he spent nearly a decade as editor-in-chief of GMA News Online in the Philippines.
• Full session slidedeck, and handout containing homework, case studies and resources – download here.
• Watch the webinar:

Session 4 – AI and Visual Multimedia

This webinar will focus on AI and visual multimedia. How can AI be used to support production processes – and what problems or risks do you need to be aware of?

• Trainer: TJ Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication and Digital Media at RMIT and an affiliate of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. His research focuses largely on the visual aspects of news and journalism and on the concerns and processes relevant to those who make, edit, and present visual news.
• Expert speaker: Nicky Catley, Group Picture Editor, Australian Geographic. Nicky has worked in the media for more than 20 years, including as a staff Picture Editor and Shoot Producer commissioning visual content for major mastheads in the UK and Australia, such as the Telegraph UK’s weekend magazines, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, The Age and a host of street, fashion, travel and lifestyle magazines.
• Expert speaker: Dr Tim Kitchen, Senior Education Specialist, Adobe (APAC). An educator for over 30 years, Tim is a well-recognised education thought leader in Australia and a passionate advocate for creativity in education. Tim is an author and a regular presenter for national and international education events, and has served as Adobe’s Senior Education Specialist for Asia Pacific since 2013.
• Full session slidedeck, and handout containing homework, case studies and resources – download here.
• Watch the webinar:

Session 5 – AI, Visualised Data and Web Interactives

This webinar will focus on the potential of AI for creating visualised data and web interactives. Participants will be shown how to use tools to generate visualisations, and discuss the opportunities and risks.

• Trainer: Yan Oak. Yan has spent the past decade as a passionate advocate for data journalism, civic tech, open data, and the power of new technologies to empower independent media and civil society. He is the founder of Thibi, a consultancy working in the space between data and design with organisations across Southeast Asia to help them build data literacy skills for decision making and storytelling. Yan is originally from Myanmar, but splits his time between Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore. He has worked as a trainer for a wide range of organisations including Reuters and WAN-IFRA.
• Expert speaker: Dylan Salcedo. Dylan has been a data scientist for Rappler since September 2020. He currently works with the Digital Forensics Team, probing the digital media space and investigating disinformation trends. Before joining Rappler, he worked under a tech startup, giving him an immersion of current trends in the software industry. This also trained him in the value of making data-driven decisions, used in Rappler to guide journalists in making sense of their findings
• Full session slidedeck, and handout containing homework, case studies and resources – download here.
• Watch the webinar:

Session 6 – AI and Audio Journalism

In this webinar, we will explore the use of AI tools for audio content generation, production, and distribution – and the associated risks and opportunities. The session will also explore AI-generated voices and music, and provide tips and guidance on how to use these tools. You may find it helpful, ahead of the session, to open a free account in Beatoven and Descript.

• Trainer: Kirsten Diprose is a radio broadcaster, podcaster and researcher based on a farm in south-west Victoria. Prior to this, Kirsten was a journalist for the ABC based mainly in Melbourne. She is a PhD candidate at Deakin University, researching podcasting and local news sustainability. Kirsten founded a rural podcast, Ducks on the Pond and podcasting business, Rural Podcasting Co. She is a regular radio presenter on ABC Radio Melbourne’s The Conversation Hour.
• Expert speaker: Andrew Davies, Manager, Digital and Audio Content Development at the ABC in Australia. Andrew helps drive the ABC’s audio-on-demand strategy, is actively involved in commissioning, develops new shows and co-productions, and has a long track record with audio innovation projects. Andrew has an excellent knowledge of global audio trends and is Chair of the European Broadcasting Union’s podcast group. Andrew was a long-time audio producer working across a range of successful Radio National specialist shows. He has received a UN Association of Australia Media Peace Award for his audio work.
• Full session slidedeck, and handout containing homework, case studies and resources – download here.
• Watch the webinar:

Session 7 – AI, Verification, Fact-Checking, Copyright, and Media Law

In this webinar, we will look at the types of content you need to be on the lookout for in your newsroom, including deepfake and AI-manipulated images, audio and video and methods and tools you can use to verify and fact-check multimedia. The session will also explore copyright and media law implications of using AI content.

• Trainer: Sam Gregoryis the Executive Director of WITNESS, a global organisation that helps people to use video and technology to defend and protect human rights. He is an internationally recognized expert on smartphone witnessing, and a trusted authority on new forms of mis/disinformation such as deepfakes. In 2018, he initiated “Prepare, Don’t Panic”, the first global effort to ensure policies, technologies, and infrastructure built to respond to deepfakes and generative AI reflect and are inclusive of globally diverse perspectives. A global leader in countering deepfakes, he’s shaped AI policy and public discourse including through Congressional testimony before both the US House and Senate and a TED Talk on how to prepare better for the threat of deepfakes. He has served on the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court, co-chaired the Partnership on AI’s Expert Group on AI and the Media, and recently co-chaired the Threats and Harms Taskforce within the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA). Among his other fellowships and affiliations are Rockefeller Bellagio Resident, IFTF Future for Good Fellow, Young Global Leader of WEF, and Knight News Challenge winner. Sam has written for WIRED and The Hill and in a range of academic journals, and been interviewed by the BBC, The New York Times, MIT Tech Review, and The Economist, among other media. A frequent keynote speaker, he has spoken at the White House and Davos.
• Expert speaker: Grant McAvaney is the Head of Litigation at News Corp Australia, which follows other senior legal positions including Head of Litigation at the ABC, CEO of the Australian Copyright Council, and Partner at Minter Ellison. Grant has acted for clients in a range of complex, interesting and high-profile matters across print media, television, radio, and online. Grant’s wealth of varied legal experience includes pre-publication, defamation, contempt, newsgathering, intellectual property, appearing in Court, copyright licensing, and legislative/policy reviews. He is also active in the wider profession, including by lecturing and training roles, and as a member of the Federal Court Media Committee.
• Expert speaker: Antonia Rosen is currently legal counsel at News Corp Australia (NCA), one of Australia’s largest media organisations. In this role, she regularly advises a range of publishers on various aspects of media law, including matters pertaining to freedom of speech, open justice, defamation, intellectual property, privacy and contributor agreements. Most recently she has joined the NCA AI Working Group, which examines developments in artificial intelligence and how such developments may be approached by the company.  Beyond her current role, she has advised some of Australia’s largest media organisations, as well as significant players in the music and literary industries on non-contentious and contentious matters. She has served on the Communications and Media Law Association Young Lawyers Committee and she has been recognised by Doyles, a leading ranking guide for the Asia Pacific, UK and UAE, as a Rising Star in the area of intellectual property and TMT (2021).
• Full session slidedeck, and handout containing homework, case studies and resources – download here.
• Watch the webinar:

 

Session 8 – AI and Newsroom Workflows

In this webinar, we hear how newsrooms in Australia and around the world are adapting existing workflows and developing new ones in response to AI. You will learn how to map and design a workflow for an AI-related process, and how to identify and mitigate risk factors in AI-related workflows.

• Trainer: Gary Rogers is a Newsroom Strategy Consultant who helps media organisations to develop new ways of working and engage with audiences. He became interested in AI and automation in journalism in 2015. That curiosity led him to co-found RADAR AI, a data journalism agency for local news now operated by PA Media in the UK. Gary began his career in print but spent many years in broadcast as a producer and editor at the BBC and ITN. He has worked globally, setting up and re-structuring news operations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australia.
• Expert speaker: Caroline Fisher is Associate Professor of Communication/Journalism at the University of Canberra and a co-author of the Digital News Report: Australia, published annually by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Her research interests include: trust in news media; news consumption trends; regional journalism, conflict of interest & disclosure in journalism; political public relations; and, the intersection between journalism and public relations. Prior to academia Caroline was a reporter/producer for ABC News, ABC Radio National, and a former senior ministerial media adviser.
• Expert speaker:  Shaun Davies, former director of content safety for Microsoft’s Start news feed globally. He’s held senior journalism, PR and tech roles across Asia and now advises on AI and safety for creative industries.
• Full session slidedeck, and handout containing homework, case studies and resources – download here.
• Watch the webinar: