Newsletter: Addressing racism as a public health emergency + our return to SXSW, new AI x Journalism Summit speakers, jobs and more

By Nevin Thompson , Hacks/Hackers Marketing & Communications Lead

How a Black-led journalism project uses technology to address systemic inequalities in California

Based in Riverside, California, journalism project Mapping Black California (MBC) builds tools that?examine and report on the impact of racism on communities of color throughout the state, and that assess whether governments are actually addressing the crisis. After developing data visualizations and journalism tools that incorporate Web3 technologies, MBC is turning its attention to AI in journalism.

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Join us at AI x Journalism House at SXSW (March 10–11)

Hacks/Hackers, in partnership with the Online News Association, is once again hosting our popular AI x Journalism House at SXSW.

Join us and an all-star lineup of journalism and technology all-stars for two days of workshops, speakers and networking alongside the SXSW conference. Take a deep dive into how artificial intelligence is changing how we create and distribute news and information.

Registration + Session Details

Announcing more AI x Journalism Summit speakers and sessions

Learn directly from the organizations that are implementing AI in newsrooms, researching its impact, and developing ethical frameworks for its use in Baltimore, May 7–8. From AI-powered news products to algorithmic accountability, engage with leaders from these institutions that are actively shaping journalism's AI transformation.

Here's just a sample of the practical hands-on workshops, real-world case studies and collaborative talks at the Hacks/Hackers AI x Journalism Summit in May:

• Watch Your Language: AI and Bias Detection, presented by Janet Coats, Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology at the University of Florida
• AI for Local Impact: Lessons from The Texas Tribune, presented by Ashley Hebler and Darla Cameron
• Digital Democracy at CalMatters:?Covering State Legislatures With the Help of AI, presented by Thomas Gerrity, Digital Democracy
• Measuring AI's Real Impact in Newsrooms, presented by Nicholas Diakopoulos and Nikita Roy
• Designing AI for Journalism: Understanding the Tech, Applying the Thinking, presented by Nicole Bleuel and Teo Soares (Collected Company)

This is just a sample of the many sessions (so far!) at the Summit. Check back, and also be sure to get your tickets.

Learn more about the Summit + Get tickets

Hackathon winners design journalism tool that aggregates personalized local news stories

MinneDigest, an AI-powered platform that delivers concise, personalized, and accessible local news summaries, is the winning project of the AI + Local News Hackathon held at the Minnesota Journalism Center in collaboration with Hack/Hackers.

The student hackathon team built the prototype to test assumptions about news personalization, audio-based engagement, and user preferences for summary formats.

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AI + Journalism Links

• How journalists in the Global South and emerging economies are using AI, and the challenges they face (Editor & Publisher)
• Generative AI is already being used in journalism – here’s how people feel about it (The Conversation)
• Survey: How might an alliance of news organizations build an LLM for journalism? (Tech Policy Press)

More Upcoming Events

• Feb 18-20, Miami, US, Knight Media Forum
• Feb 24–27, Taipei, Taiwan, RightsCon
• Feb 27–28, Online, Institute for Independent Journalists Conference?
• Mar 6–9, Minneapolis, US, NICAR
• Mar 10, Austin, US, AI x Journalism House at SXSW
• Mar 27-28, Austin, US, International Symposium on Online Journalism
• Apr 9–13, Perugia, Italy, International Journalism Festival
• May 2-4, Berkeley, US, Logan Symposium on Investigative Reporting
• May 7-8, Baltimore, US, Hacks/Hackers AI x Journalism Summit
• May 15-16, Denver, US, Collaborative Journalism Summit
• May 20-22, Philadelphia, US, Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit
• May 22–25, Mechelen, Belgium, Dataharvest
• June 19-22, New Orleans, US, IRE
• July 10-11, Minneapolis, US, SRCCON

Jobs

• (Anywhere) The Marshall Project, Designer
• (Anywhere) Solutions Journalism Network, Program Operations Manager
• (Europe or US) News Product Alliance, Programs Director?
• (Hong Kong) China Daily, Social Media Video Editor
• (Thailand) Internews, Project Associate
• (UK) Thomson Reuters Foundation, Operations Officer
• (US) ProPublica, Deputy News Applications Editor
• (US) ProPublica, Deputy Data Editor
• (US) The Detroit News, Data Reporter
• (US) PublicSource, Audience growth & engagement producer
• (US) World Press Institute, Program Manager