Real journalism requires real reporters

Union journalists at five local newspapers in the western U.S. are pushing back on management proposals to push AI into newsrooms

BOZEMAN, MT (March 25, 2026) — “Incredibly dumb.” “Honestly insane.” “Absolute sh*t.” That’s just some of the overwhelmingly negative feedback found in a Reddit thread discussing an entirely AI-generated story in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, a neat summation of community sentiment about using artificial intelligence to write local news. Despite the cutesy name management slapped on the tech, “guest columnist” Bo Zangeles was not a hit with local readers.

Readers’ sentiments are shared by the union (and human) journalists of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Along with their compatriots at the Skagit Valley Herald, Anacortes American, Stanwood Camano News and Wyoming Tribune Eagle, they are currently bargaining a new contract with publisher Adams MultiMedia. These newsroom workers — like counterparts in dozens of local newspapers and national outlets — are fighting management proposals to entrench AI use in the production of news media without any editorial oversight.

In contract talks, management is proposing language that allows free-reign of AI use at management’s discretion without input or supervision from actual journalists, let alone protections against deploying it just to create more unpopular “guest” columns. Per the workers’ unions, the Pacific Northwest and Denver Newspaper Guilds, one of management’s most recent proposals included this absolutist line: “There is no limitation on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by the Employer with respect to any newsroom function, including the generation of news content.”

Such a proposal is not just out of step with readers’ desires; it threatens the very core of what makes local news valuable.

From the Pacific Northwest and Denver Newspaper Guilds:

“As unionized journalists, we understand that the value of journalism lies in the labor behind it: reporting, verifying, contextualizing, and being accountable to the public. News isn’t just words arranged into paragraphs—it’s the product of relationships with sources, time spent in communities, and professional judgment developed over years of practice. When media companies turn to AI to generate news content, they attempt to replace that labor with automation. What gets lost is the very thing that makes journalism trustworthy: human reporters who are responsible for what they publish.

AI cannot interact with community members the way our reporters do. AI cannot tell original stories. AI cannot create accurate stories.”

Journalists work hard to establish trust with both their readers and the people they turn to as sources. That trust is how important stories get told. An algorithm can’t look a worker in the eyes and and tell them it will protect their anonymity when they share details of harassment on the job. An algorithm can’t show up at a picket and experience what it’s like to walk the line.

Without human journalists, working people and local communities lose. As more and more publishers try to integrate generative AI into newsrooms, public pushback is more essential than ever.

TAKE A STAND: send an email to Adams MultiMedia management letting them know you expect real journalism from your local newspaper, not AI slop.