AI Policy

The Newport News Daily is committed to accurate, independent, and transparent journalism. As AI tools become more capable and widely used, we believe readers deserve to know how these tools fit into our reporting process. While AI can help us work more efficiently and expand our coverage, it does not change our responsibility to verify information, correct mistakes, and maintain high editorial standards. This policy outlines how we use AI and the safeguards we have in place. AI does not change our responsibility and commitment regarding the accuracy, fairness, and integrity of our reporting.

How we use AI: We AI to assist with tasks such as transcription, research, document analysis, summaries, editing, translation, and other production needs, but AI never replaces human judgment. Every story is reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication, and anything AI helps generate, including drafts, is checked against original sources first. We do not enter confidential source information, sensitive unpublished reporting materials, or similar protected information into AI systems unless appropriate safeguards are in place.

What we don’t do with AI: We do not use AI to invent quotes, facts, sources, statistics, or events; create fake interviews or falsely attribute statements to individuals; publish AI-generated content as original reporting without human review and verification; create or alter photos, video, or audio in ways that could mislead readers; or present AI systems as sources, eyewitnesses, or experts.

Transparency and accountability: We label content where AI played a substantial role in what readers see or hear, such as AI-generated images or synthetic audio. We do not separately flag routine production uses such as transcription, formatting, editing assistance, or research support. If AI makes a mistake that passes our review process, we will correct it.

This policy will be updated as AI technology, newsroom practices, and community expectations evolve. If you have any questions or comments, please email us at newportnewsdaily@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!