City Research Online

Abstract

The increasing adoption of generative AI in news media presents new challenges to journalism, particularly during an era marked by disinformation, audience disaffection, and mistrust towards news media and journalists. The proliferation of voices in news discourse, especially with the rise of social media platforms, has further questioned journalism’s authority, which is defined as the socially constructed right to be listened to [Carlson, 2017. Journalistic authority: Legitimating news in the digital era. Columbia University Press]. This paper examines the integration of AI in Swiss news media through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 16 media professionals from various newsrooms across the country. The research aims to understand journalists’ perceptions of AI’s impact on journalism’s authority and to identify strategies for ensuring the responsible use of AI without undermining this authority. Findings indicate that a pluralistic governance approach, emphasizing guidelines and human oversight, is crucial for the responsible implementation of AI in the editorial process. Additionally, maintaining emotional agency in news gathering and storytelling is identified as a key strategy for journalists to reaffirm their authority amidst the growing presence of AI in newsrooms.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Publisher Keywords:	Artificial intelligence, journalism, authority, Switzerland, responsibility, ethics, emotions
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > DAW Central Europe H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Departments:	School of Communication & Creativity School of Communication & Creativity > Journalism
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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