OpenAI will convene senior newsroom leaders, nonprofit media executives, and AI practitioners in Washington, D.C., for an in-person forum focused on: artificial intelligence It is being incorporated into journalism.
The event, titled “AI in Newsrooms: Responsible Innovation and the Future of Journalism,” will bring together executives from Axios, Boston Globe Media Partners, American Journalism Project, and other national media organizations to discuss current AI use cases, governance models, and editorial safeguards.
Immediately following the forum discussion, an OpenAI Academy workshop will provide hands-on demonstrations of AI workflows already in place within newsrooms.
Senior media leaders tackle AI adoption
Speakers include Jim VandeHei, CEO and Chairman of Axios; Mike Allen, co-founder of Axios. Sarabeth Berman, CEO of American Journalism Project. Shira T. Senter, Vice President of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives, Boston Globe Media Partners. Scott Smallwood, Open Campus Co-Founder and CEO Evan Hirsch, Senior Producer and AI Strategist.
This discussion examines how AI tools are currently being used for research, analysis, editing, and workflow automation, and what responsible integration looks like in practice. The stated focus is on how automation can support reporting without weakening editorial standards.
This session forms part of the OpenAI Forum series and will include opening remarks and a panel discussion before moving on to practical demonstrations.
Academy workshop introducing newsroom tools
In the OpenAI Academy segment, Scott Smallwood and Evan Hirsch will demonstrate AI applications used within a newsroom environment.
Smallwood leads Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom that partners with local media outlets in 18 cities to cover higher education. Mr. Hirsch previously spent 20 years in broadcast journalism, including senior editorial positions at NBC News, MSNBC and CBS News. He built AI tools embedded in daily newsroom workflows, including a system that scans local news sites to surface stories with national potential and helps edit broadcast scripts.
This event will be in-person only, and portions will be rebroadcast later as part of the OpenAI Forum series.
Journalism, automation, and human judgment
AI is increasingly being incorporated into the way journalists research, draft, edit, and distribute content. News organizations are testing tools to reduce repetitive tasks, uncover patterns in data, and accelerate copy production. At the same time, questions around verification, bias, attribution, and governance remain central.
The stated purpose of this forum is to explore what AI can responsibly automate so newsrooms can take back reporting and editing time. But there is one principle that is consistent across the industry. Technology may aid the process, but editorial judgment, accountability, and ethical decision-making must remain human-driven.
Automation can support workflow. It is no substitute for newsroom standards, investigative instincts, or the responsibility journalists have to the public. As AI tools become more capable, the critical question is not how far they can be automated, but how clearly humans remain at the center of editorial decisions.
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