The editorial in the Weekend Herald on 20 July 2024. Photo: Weekend Herald / NZME
The New Zealand Herald’s publisher NZME says it should have employed more “journalistic rigour” when it used artificial intelligence tools to create an editorial that appeared in the Weekend Herald, online and in regional papers recently.
The editorial about who the All Blacks should pick to play at centre ran first in the Weekend Herald on 20 July.
Truncated sentences and repetition of key words appeared characteristic of generative AI applications like ChatGPT.
Below it was a shorter editorial about the achievements of MMA professional Israel Adesanya.
Both also appeared to draw heavily on articles by Herald journalists - Gregor Paul on 18 July and Christopher Reive on 17 July respectively.
Mediawatch ran both editorials through AI detection tools and several returned positive results.
* Hear Hayden Donnell talk about the story on Midweek Mediawatch here
Mediawatch asked NZME if any AI tools were used in the making of the editorial headlined ‘Ioane under microscope: what it means for ABs’ future.’
A statement from NZME editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness said AI was used in a way that fell short of its standards.
“Like many media companies, we use AI as a tool in our newsrooms, as indicated in the footer of every article page,” Kirkness said.
“Any piece of content that uses AI is reviewed, edited and has journalistic oversight. In this particular case, we accept more journalistic rigour would have been beneficial, and we will communicate this to our team.”
Mediawatch understands this is the first time the use of AI for editorials in New Zealand has come to light.
The Weekend Herald won the 2024 Voyager Award for Weekly Newspaper of the Year in May.
“It is the complete package: a mix of incisive news and insightful features, replete with compelling reads across business, sport, lifestyle and opinion,” judges said.
The 20 July editorials also appeared on the Herald website, the weekend edition of the Bay of Plenty Times, Gisborne Herald and other NZME titles.
There was no acknowledgement for readers that AI played a part in generating them.
“The Herald and other NZME publications use AI to improve our journalism. In some cases, we also create stories entirely using AI tools,” says an explanatory article headlined NZME, NZ Herald and our use of AI.
“We believe that smart use of AI allows us to publish better journalism. We remain committed to our Code of Ethics and to the integrity of our journalism, regardless of whether or not we use AI tools to help with the production or processing of articles.”
NZME owns BusinessDesk which uses AI to write simple stories sourced from NZX data which are clearly labelled as AI creations.
It was an innovation driven by BusinessDesk, whose former general manager Matt Martell is now NZME’s managing editor of audience and platform curation.
A co-author of the annual AUT Trust in News report, Dr Greg Treadwell, told Midday Report it was a poor experiment in AI use.
Treadwell said NZME should be an opinion leader.
"What is lacking here, even if you ask [AI] to take positions, is the original argument we would look to our senior journalists to put into the public dominion for us about important issues."
Public trust in the media was falling and media companies needed to reassure the public it could be trusted, he said.
"When the public hears that AI is being used in places - and perhaps most importantly here is that it wasn't acknowledged that was being used to create this editorial - then that can only damage trust."
Former Herald editor-in-chief and prominent media commentator Tim Murphy joked on social media the editorial may "have achieved another world first for NZ".
New Zealand’s other major newspaper and online publisher Stuff discloses when AI is used to write an article.
Stuff's Editorial Code of Practice and Ethics says “any content . . . generated or substantially generated using generative AI will be transparently labelled outlining the nature of AI use, including the tool used.”
It says content generated by AI will be overseen by journalists and edited before going to print.
“The content will be held to the same standards as content written by professional journalists.”
NZME’s standards don’t mandate disclosure but do say stories should be attributed to “the author and/or the creator/provider of the material” in accordance with the company’s Code of Ethics.
Mediawatch also asked how AI tools were used to create the articles in question.
NZME has not yet responded.
RNZ also approached New Zealand Rugby to ask their thoughts on NZME using AI to analyse the All Black team selection.
In a statement NZR said it recognised the need for media organisations to have well-established editorial policies and standards.
"These ensure high quality sports journalism and play an important role in telling rugby's stories. NZR is satisfied that the New Zealand Herald has made the appropriate steps to amend the story in question."