Under the Hood: WNYC & AI

Many public media newsrooms are trying to figure out just how to work AI into their workflows, if at all. WNYC's Joe Hong has put a great deal of thought into how he, and other journalists like him, might put new tools to use with impact and audience trust in mind. In this session, he shares what he's learned about AI and local news and how he and others at WNYC have been applying those lessons. 

Reference Documents

• Prompting Basics, Workflow for Data Analysis, and Public Records Requests
• FOIA Request Example
• Example Voting Data

Sample Guidelines

• Poynter’s AI ethics guidelines
• How The New York Times Uses A.I. for Journalism
• NPR Ethics Handbook
• The Washington Post’s AI Policy

Further Reading

• “AI is giving local news a second chance. Will it be ready this time?” (Poynter, 6/9/2025)
• “How much more water and power does AI computing demand? Tech firms don’t want you to know” (LA Times, 8/26/2024)
• “How We’re Using AI” (CJR, 5/12/2025)
• "We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard." (MIT Technology Review, 5/20/2025)