FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Center for Journalism Ethics hosting its spring conference, “Journalism Ethics & the AI Challenge,” with support from craig newmark philanthropies and the Evjue Foundation
Madison, Wisconsin – The Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will host its 15th annual journalism ethics conference at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on Friday, April 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. The conference is free, open to the public and made possible by generous sponsorships from craig newmark philanthropies and the Evjue Foundation.
Called “Journalism Ethics & the AI Challenge,” the conference will bring together news media professionals, media innovators, academics, students and the public to address the ethical dilemmas that AI poses to the practice of journalism. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Julia Angwin will deliver a keynote address on the challenges of covering AI.
In the past year alone, we’ve seen headlines about significant shake-ups at OpenAI, alarming headlines about AI risk, and executive orders on AI from the Biden Administration. The AI story has arrived. In newsrooms, AI is already being used, sometimes with positive impact, sometimes with a corrosive effect. AI is pushing the field of journalism to take on two enormous challenges simultaneously: establishing new standards of ethical journalistic practice and covering the impact of AI on society right now and in the near future.
Expert panelists will take on subjects such as the evolving nature of fakes, frauds and disinformation in the era of AI, the potential for AI to reduce or amplify bias in the news, how professional standards of practice are attempting to meet the AI movement, how news organizations can put news values such as transparency, accountability and data privacy at the forefront of their AI practice and how labor issues intersect with AI.
“Too much of the conversation about AI is dominated by idealists in one corner and catastrophists in the opposite corner,” said Kathleen Bartzen Culver, James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics and director of the Center. “This conference will be essential in helping journalists and the public navigate the space between those poles. Ethics must be the center of our focus on AI and where we are heading.”
The Center for Journalism Ethics, housed in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW-Madison, provides an international hub for the examination of the role of professional and personal ethics in the pursuit of fair, accurate and principled journalism. The Center offers resources for journalists, educators, students and the public, including internationally recognized annual conferences exploring key issues in journalism.
craig newmark philanthropies supports groups that seek to defend values such as fairness, opportunity and respect and strengthen American democracy. The organization drives broad civic engagement by working to advance organizations focused on trustworthy journalism and the information ecosystem, voter protection, women in tech, and veterans and military families. Craig Newmark is the founder of craigslist.
The Evjue Foundation is the charitable arm of The Capital Times newspaper. Since its founding in the 1960s, the Foundation has made grants totaling more than $70 million to worthy educational, cultural and charitable organizations in the newspaper’s circulation area.
Additional sponsors include the MG&E Foundation, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and Wisconsin Watch.
Registration is open and available here.
For more information, see the conference web page and/or contact Krista Eastman, administrator at the Center for Journalism Ethics, at krista.eastman@wisc.edu.