A funny thing has happened as artificial intelligence has become one of the biggest stories in the world:
The old ways of doing journalism have become more valuable than ever.
AI is an incredible tool. It can help summarize information, analyze documents and make newsrooms more efficient.
Like every technological advance before it, from computers to smartphones to the internet itself, it’s changing how journalism is done.
But it hasn’t changed what journalism is — or what readers should expect from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Some of the biggest stories we publish at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune still begin the same way they would have when this publication was founded more than a century ago.
A reporter walks past a business and notices a handwritten sign announcing it has closed.
An editor driving through town spots construction fencing around a long-vacant property and starts making phone calls.
A photographer covering a festival strikes up a conversation that turns into a feature story nobody knew existed.
A reporter attends a city commission meeting and hears residents raise concerns that never appeared on the agenda.
Often, the story starts with a simple question:
“What’s going in there?”
Or:
“Why is that place suddenly so busy?”
Those questions don’t come from algorithms.
They come from curiosity.
The same goes for the stories that readers seem to value most.
Restaurant coverage means talking to owners, chefs and customers.
It also means sitting down and eating the food ourselves when writing reviews and recommendations – meals paid for by our company, not the restaurant.
A business profile means sitting down with someone and listening to their story.
Coverage of local government means actually showing up, taking notes and asking follow-up questions.
When rumors start circulating online, journalism often means making five phone calls until we know what is true instead of simply repeating what everyone else is saying.
In our digital world, information has never been easier to find.
Original and verified information, however, has never been more valuable.
AI can aggregate information.
Journalism creates it.
For a local newspaper, that often means something as simple as walking down Main Street, attending a neighborhood event, talking to business owners or paying attention to changes happening in our own backyard.
That kind of shoe-leather reporting may sound old-fashioned.
But as technology continues to evolve, it turns out those old-school instincts – curiosity, observation and conversation – are exactly what local journalism needs most.
And those human instincts and interactions remain things no machine can replace.
Wade Tatangelo is the executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida dining and entertainment editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and X. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Why Sarasota journalism matters more than ever in the AI age
Reporting by Wade Tatangelo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Wade Tatangelo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
