Andrew Deck
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andrewdeck.bsky.social
Andrew Deck
@andrewdeck.bsky.social
4.2K followers 160 following 44 posts
Reporting on AI and journalism for @NiemanLab.org at Harvard. Signal: andrewdeck.01
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Reposted by Andrew Deck
hannescools.bsky.social
✨ Audiences doubt the benefits of AI-generated imagery in news are worth the risks, new study finds.

@andrewdeck.bsky.social wrote an article on our latest study in @digitaljournalism.bsky.social 🙏

w Dina Strikovic

www.niemanlab.org/2025/11/audi... @aimediademlab.bsky.social @ddc-sdu.bsky.social
Audiences doubt the benefits of AI-generated imagery in news are worth the risks, new study finds
What do readers really think of AI-generated images in their news? There has been substantial research on how audiences respond to AI-generated text, but far less dedicated research on image generator...
www.niemanlab.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
damonberes.com
NEW: Common Crawl, the massive archiver of the web, has gotten cozy with AI companies and is providing paywalled articles for training data. They’re also lying to publishers who have asked for material to be removed. “The robots are people too,” CC’s exec director told us when we asked about this.
The Nonprofit Feeding the Entire Internet to AI Companies
Common Crawl claims to provide a public benefit, but it lies to publishers about its activities.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
damonberes.com
Grateful to the always-fantastic @andrewdeck.bsky.social for writing such a substantial piece building on our recent AI Watchdog work at the Atlantic 🙏
Hundreds of thousands of videos from news publishers like The New York Times and Vox were used to train AI models
YouTube channels from major news publishers and creators were in video data sets used by Microsoft, Meta, Snap, Runway, and Bytedance.
www.niemanlab.org
November 3, 2025 at 2:48 AM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
Hundreds of thousands of videos were taken from some of the most popular news publishers on YouTube and used to train AI video models. That includes The New York Times, ABC News, Al Jazeera, Vox Media, and The Wall Street Journal. My latest @niemanlab.org. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/hund...
Hundreds of thousands of videos from news publishers like The New York Times and Vox were used to train AI models
YouTube channels from major news publishers and creators were in video data sets used by Microsoft, Meta, Snap, Runway AI, and Bytedance.
www.niemanlab.org
October 31, 2025 at 3:54 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages have dropped off in recent months. Our analysis shows that since May 16, the number of captures available for 100 top news sites declined by 87%.

@hanaatameez.bsky.social and I report for @niemanlab.org.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages plummet after a “breakdown” in archiving projects
Between May and October 2025, homepage snapshots fell by 87% across 100 news publications.
www.niemanlab.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:50 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
Deepfakes of broadcast journalists are spreading across social media. Many of them are ads selling cryptocurrencies, gambling apps, and snake oil medicines.

Meanwhile, social media companies like Meta profit off the ad dollars. My latest @niemanlab.org. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/scam...
Scammers are using video deepfakes of journalists to peddle products online
Broadcast journalists around the world are being targeted amid an explosion in deepfake scams. Are social media platforms doing enough to counter them?
www.niemanlab.org
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
zeyiyang.bsky.social
In college, I'd always walk past an unremarkable store in Beijing that sold a variety of trendy, but tacky, toys. That store has turned into Pop Mart, the $45-billion Chinese toy empire behind Labubu, the biggest global fad of 2025.

This is my big story/pilgrimage trip to explain how they got here
A Journey Into the Heart of Labubu
I made an epic trek across four countries to answer one question: Why is the world going mad for a plushie monster?
www.wired.com
October 1, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
telliotter.bsky.social
NEW from me for @wired.com's politics issue: I have spent SO much time fascinated by the "network state"--privatized cities in special economic zones (SEZs) where the normal rules and regulations don't apply.

www.wired.com/story/tech-b...
Tech Billionaires Already Captured the White House. They Still Want to Be Kings
From Montenegro to Northern California, the tech elite dream of building cities where they make the rules. Is this, finally, their moment?
www.wired.com
September 26, 2025 at 6:56 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
"I’ve had people tell me they're afraid to go on the air, and after 40 years on the air, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that."

A new report from @newsisout.bsky.social asks how local LGBTQ+ news outlets are weathering the second Trump administration. www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/loca...
Local LGBTQ+ publications are facing a drop in ad dollars and a rise in safety concerns, new report finds
A new report from News is Out, a national collaborative of queer news publishers, has mapped local LGBTQ+ publications across the U.S. The first comprehensive report of its kind, “The LGBTQ+ Media Map...
www.niemanlab.org
September 25, 2025 at 5:54 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
Great to chat with NYU’s Ethics & Journalism Initiative about my reporting!

We talked about AI "bias detectors,” automated fact-checking, and navigating both the hype and fear cycles on my beat. ethicsandjournalism.org/2025/09/18/n...
Nieman Lab’s Andrew Deck Has Been Tracking AI Use in the Journalism Industry for Years. Here’s What He Says We Need to Know. - Ethics and Journalism
Since the public launch of ChatGPT nearly three years ago, the media industry has cycled through many phases of AI adoption and experimentation.
ethicsandjournalism.org
September 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
For @thenation.com: I reviewed @karenhao.bsky.social’s Empire of AI and took a closer look at her argument that OpenAI’s "scaling laws" echo the expansionist ideologies of European empires.
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
The True Threat of OpenAI
Karen Hao’s recent book on the company argues that its ambitions are not merely about scale or the market but the creation of a global force that rivals a colonial power of old.
www.thenation.com
September 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
oliverdarcy.bsky.social
Scoop: Business Insider informed its staff this week that they are allowed to use ChatGPT to generate first drafts of their stories, while also indicating the newsroom will not disclose such A.I. use to readers.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/business-i...
Business Insider and the Bots
The Axel Springer-owned newsroom is buzzing over new ChatGPT writing guidelines—part of an aggressive A.I. strategy pushed by its German parentco and detailed in a memo obtained by Status.
www.status.news
September 17, 2025 at 1:05 AM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
A third of jobs related to race, diversity, and equality that were created in U.S. newsrooms since 2020 are gone as of this summer. 

@hanaatameez.bsky.social with a months-long investigation and new data on American journalism's turn away from DEI initiatives. www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline
Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck.
www.niemanlab.org
September 11, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
damonberes.com
I'm proud to share a new project that @alexreisner.bsky.social and I launched at @theatlantic.com today! It's called AI Watchdog, and it's our new home for all of the investigations into training data sets, such as LibGen, Books3, and OpenSubtitles. www.theatlantic.com/category/ai-...
AI Watchdog landing page AI Watchdog Data Set Search
September 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
In France, reporters are getting a cut of revenue from AI licensing deals. Among others, Le Monde has agreed to redistribute 25% of its deals with OpenAI and Perplexity.

I took a closer look at these union agreements and asked why they haven't crossed the Atlantic. www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/in-f...
Some French publishers are giving AI revenue directly to journalists. Could that ever happen in the U.S.?
Le Monde agreed to give journalists 25% of revenue from licensing deals with OpenAI and Perplexity. Now, other French publishers are following suit.
www.niemanlab.org
September 5, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
klaudia.bsky.social
NEW in @columjournreview.bsky.social: Why AI models are bad at fact-checking photos www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
August 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
A new report from @centerforlocalnews.bsky.social asks what it takes for small local newsrooms to build an AI chatbot.

Researchers helped four newsrooms launch experimental chatbots in under a month. But only one has committed to running theirs beyond the program. www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/loca...
Local newsrooms are building AI chatbots fast and cheap
A new report tracked four small newsrooms as they launched custom chatbots built in just one month.
www.niemanlab.org
August 26, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
grovesprof.bsky.social
Quite the line in this excellent @niemanlab.org piece: "These stations are not just media outlets; they are cultural infrastructure." www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/how-...
How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
“These stations are not just media outlets, they are cultural infrastructure.”
www.niemanlab.org
August 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper by circulation, has sued Perplexity for copyright infringement.

The filing claims that Perplexity accessed 119,467 articles on Yomiuri’s site between February and June of this year.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/japa...
Japan’s largest newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, sues AI startup Perplexity for copyright violations
The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper by circulation, has sued the generative AI startup Perplexity for copyright infringement. The lawsuit, filed in Tokyo District Court on August 7, marks t...
www.niemanlab.org
August 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
In a July arbitration hearing, Politico's top editors testified that two recent AI experiments don't need to meet journalistic editorial standards.

Union members alleged those experiments violated AI guidelines in their contract. My latest @niemanlab.org.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/poli...
Politico’s recent AI experiments shouldn’t be subject to newsroom editorial standards, its editors testify
In a July arbitration hearing, Politico faced allegations that two generative AI tools violated its union contract.
www.niemanlab.org
August 12, 2025 at 3:08 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
A new study by Muck Rack recorded over 1 million citations output by major generative AI models.

Journalistic content was cited in 27% of responses, a number that jumped to 49% when those responses required "a level of recency." www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/gene...
Generative AI models love to cite Reuters and Axios, study finds
Muck Rack found that major models cite journalism in nearly half of responses that require "recency."
www.niemanlab.org
July 25, 2025 at 2:47 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
In January, I uncovered a network of AI-generated newsletters, called Good Daily, that was targeting hundreds of small towns and cities across the U.S.

This week, the newsletter company 6AM City announced it had bought Good Daily and brought its founder on board. www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/good...
6AM City acquires Good Daily’s network of more than 350 AI-generated local newsletters
6AM City will continue to operate its "core" newsletters with human editors, but will treat Good Daily’s AI-generated newsletters as "seed markets."
www.niemanlab.org
July 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
speppered.bsky.social
If you are involved in trying to make nonprofit news sustainable, I wrote and reported this story for you!

So much news that deserves our attention right now, but I hope you'll spend some time with my Houston Landing retrospective for @niemanlab.org (1/3)

www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
What went wrong at the Houston Landing?
“We tried to be too much, too fast, for too many people.”
www.niemanlab.org
July 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
andrewdeck.bsky.social
Today, Dow Jones launched a French version of its newswire using custom-built machine translation.

It's part of a larger push to bring "real-time," AI-powered translations to the newswire, including services in Korean and Japanese. My latest for @niemanlab.org.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/a-pr...
A pressure test for AI: Dow Jones makes a translation push for real-time financial news
Dow Jones Newswires launches an AI-powered French language service, following the rollout of Korean and Japanese last year.
www.niemanlab.org
July 17, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Andrew Deck
coreyhutchins.bsky.social
A New report maps a “severe” shortage of local journalists in the U.S.: www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/new-... I looked at the details for @niemanlab.org The report "finds that more than 1,000 counties — one out of three in the nation — do not have the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist."
New report maps a “severe” shortage of local journalists in the U.S.
The report from Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack finds that more than 1,000 counties — one out of three in the nation — do not have the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist.
www.niemanlab.org
July 10, 2025 at 2:10 PM