Tell POLITICO Management: AI should work with journalists, not against us!
POLITICO CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Editor-in-Chief John Harris
Last year, PEN Guild members ratified a groundbreaking first contract that included some of the strongest provisions in the industry around artificial intelligence. These protections not only gave union journalists a say in how AI is deployed in our newsroom, but also required the company to hold new technology to the same high journalistic and ethical standards as its human employees.
Unfortunately, it did not take long for POLITICO to violate that agreement. Since August, POLITICO has deployed two types of AI that violate our contract and the company’s own ethical standards. In just two examples,
AI-generated live coverage used to cover 2024 election events, like the Democratic National Convention, was deployed without any union input. The AI-generated coverage was not subject to the same level of editing as human-written reports, used language that violated our Stylebook and was often taken down without the proper approvals.
Unilateral launch of an AI “Report Builder” tool that subscribers can use to generate reports on any topic, without any oversight or editing from POLITICO personnel to ensure they are true. We’ve found numerous glaring errors in reports generated by our members, including the AI not knowing Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and the AI fabricating lobbying issues for fake organizations.
We’ve raised concerns about these ethical and contractual violations with management over the course of multiple meetings to no avail. We need your help in telling POLITICO to stop violating its contract on AI--and to start following its own rules for accurate and ethical journalism.
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POLITICO CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Editor-in-Chief John Harris
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[Your Name]
Goli and John,
We, the undersigned, are calling on POLITICO leadership to immediately stop violating the AI protections won by PEN Guild members in our first collective bargaining agreement.
That groundbreaking contract, ratified last year, established some of the strongest standards in the industry for artificial intelligence—standards that ensure new technology meets the same ethical and journalistic bar as our human reporters. It gave union journalists a seat at the table on how AI is used in our newsroom, and required accountability and oversight.
But since August, POLITICO has disregarded that agreement and its own editorial principles. Two clear examples:
AI-generated live coverage was published around major election events, including the Democratic National Convention, without any union input. These pieces were poorly edited, misused terms that violate our Stylebook, and was often taken down without the proper approvals.
The “Report Builder” tool, which lets subscribers generate unvetted reports on any topic, was launched without any guardrails or editorial oversight. Our members have already uncovered serious factual errors, including the AI not knowing Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and fabricated lobbying issues attributed to nonexistent organizations.
We’ve raised these issues repeatedly in good faith, but management has failed to act. This is a breach of contract, a risk to POLITICO’s credibility, and an insult to the journalists who work every day to uphold rigorous standards of truth.
We urge you to honor the agreement you signed, stop these unauthorized uses of AI, and ensure all new technology is subject to the same ethical scrutiny as the rest of our journalism.