CJS delegation at the Future of Journalism Conference in Cardiff

A delegation from CJS attended the Future of Journalism Conference in Cardiff on 11 and 12 September, where they presented their latest research. The team had an amazing time sharing their work and exploring the city – despite the inevitable Welsh rain.

Dr. Maxine De Wulf Helskens presented her study “Superheroes, bathrobe journalists and cowboys: how Flemish journalists construct their professional identity through fiction”, which sparked engaging discussions among fellow researchers.
Read more

Dr. Emma Verhoeven presented the results of a study co-authored with prof. Sarah Van Leuven about the impact of generative AI on journalistic labor. Through 21 in-depth interviews, they analyzed risk profiles (early-career journalists, graphic profiles, sub-editors) and demonstrated changes in journalists' skillsets, such as the importance of AI literacy and the decreased need for routine tasks like transcription.
Read more

Stephanie D’haeseleer presented the results of a study together with former CJS-member Kristin van Damme on the AI transparency paradox in journalism. Through a focus group study with 42 participants, they gained insights into whether transparency in the use of generative AI is as essential as commonly assumed and whether journalists can put this transparency into practice. The results show that the audiences do appreciate transparency in AI use in news reporting, while making an important distinction between news context (sensitive topics), specific tasks in news reporting, and format (text versus image).
Read more