La Noticia marks its 29th anniversary amid an unprecedented technological transformation. Artificial intelligence continues its inexorable advance at a rapid pace. While some use this tool for scientific progress or as a productivity booster, others use it to generate misinformation. What does the future hold for local media in the face of artificial intelligence?
Amid the war involving the United States and Israel against Iran, social media has been flooded with propagandistic videos. The Islamic regime released a series of AI-generated videos, including a viral rap song, to mock Donald Trump. This week, President Trump posted an AI-generated image portraying himself as Jesus Christ, although he later said he intended to depict himself as a doctor.
Distorted information and fake news are now produced with great ease. This affects people’s perception of reality, which leads to the radicalization of thought, and radicalization breeds violence.
Faced with this challenge, there is an alternative. Local news remains key. A recent analysis by the Pew Research Center reveals that 82% of Latinos consider local media important for the well-being of their community.
What artificial intelligence cannot do
Latinos access local information through multiple platforms. According to Pew, most still do so through traditional media. In addition, 55% get information from online groups, such as Facebook or other platforms. Another key figure: 48% follow news influencers, a growing trend.
One of the reasons for this trust in local media is that journalists—at least those committed to their mission—are in constant contact with their community. We interact face to face with Latinos living in North Carolina, we listen to their stories, celebrate their achievements, and highlight their challenges. For us, the Latino community is not a statistic; they are human beings with all their complexities and intrinsic values. This cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.
How we use artificial intelligence
We do not reject these new technologies—on the contrary, we are adapting to this change to better serve our community. The only thing we do not believe is that artificial intelligence can replace our voice.
Throughout these 29 years of service, La Noticia has successfully adapted to the evolution of the industry. From the digitalization of content to our presence on social media, video production, and the offering of alternative formats such as newsletters, we have transformed into a news organization that seeks to reach our community wherever it is.
At La Noticia, we have adopted artificial intelligence tools in our operations in the following ways: proofreading texts, automatic transcription of interviews, classification of long documents, web text optimization, translation assistance, creation of animations for videos, and generation of voiceovers. We even developed a scriptwriting tool for videos, which was highlighted at the AI Community Engagement Lab of the City University of New York (CUNY) last November.
All of this investment aims to provide you with the best information, following our principles of quality journalism. However, we cannot do it alone—we need your support. Overall, 88% of Americans have not paid for local news in the past year. Among Latinos, the figure is even lower. Only 9% have paid through subscriptions or donations.
We invite you to follow us on all our social media platforms, share our content, join us at our live events, subscribe to our newsletters, and support us with your donation.
Find this article in Spanish here.