Ganderbal, Oct 9: Department of Communication and Journalism (DCJ), Central University of Kashmir (CUKashmir), organised a special lecture on “AI for the Newsroom: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in the Newsroom” at Tulmulla Campus here, on Wednesday.
The lecture was organised as part of the weekly Research Round Table meant for scholars and students to provide them with an opportunity to interact with media scholars and practitioners across India. Mr. Jatin Gandhi, noted Journalist and Journalism Trainer from New Delhi, was the resource person on the occasion.
Vice-Chancellor, Prof. A. Ravinder Nath, conveyed his wishes for the successful conduct of the session and highlighted the importance of AI in the field.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Shahid Rasool, Dean Academic Affairs & Dean, School of Media Studies, emphasised the inevitability of AI’s growing presence in journalism and the need for media professionals to engage with it critically. He said, “AI implementation cannot be escaped. It is the elephant in the room and cannot be kept under the carpet.” He also stressed that adopting AI must be accompanied by questions of effectiveness, ethics, and responsibility, particularly when AI is used to produce journalistic content.
In his welcome address, Dr. Arif Nazir, HOD DCJ, discussed the need for Media & Information Literacy in the era of Artificial Intelligence. He stressed that there is a dire need to understand the complex information cycle in order to consume credible and relevant information.
Mr. Jatin Gandhi, in his address, highlighted the growing adoption of AI in the journalism industry. He emphasised the need for media organisations and academic institutions to establish clear policies governing its use, he added, “We need an AI policy in the university or other institutions as soon as possible. A lot of media organisations do not yet have AI policies, while some media outlets have already integrated AI policies into their operations.” Mr Jatin Gandhi discussed a range of applications of AI in the newsroom, including automated weather and stock reports, content repurposing, personalisation and algorithm-driven audience engagement. He highlighted the challenges posed by bias, hallucinations, inaccurate data and misleading results, stressing that journalists cannot rely on AI-generated information without verification.
He further said, “We are hyper-connected and have information overload. News organisations, in order to sustain themselves, need to connect with the audience.” He further discussed the impact of AI on employment and the future of journalistic skills, arguing that the conversation should move beyond simply asking whether AI will replace journalists and instead examine how journalists can use the technology effectively and responsibly.
The session introduced participants to basic concepts related to AI and machine learning, including algorithms, personalisation, supervised and unsupervised learning, and labelled and unlabelled data. The speaker discussed how these technologies are likely to influence the skills required of future journalists.
The event was attended by Sr Asst Profs Mr. John Babu Koyye and Dr. Nookaraju Bendukurthi. The session was conducted by Ms. Muskaan Beigh, a PG scholar, and the vote of thanks was proposed by Ms. Anurima Mondal, Research Scholar. Ms. Insha Mushtaq, Research Scholar, was rapporteur.
