New research shows survey respondents want human involvement, guardrails, transparency if AI is used in news reports

Local news consumers, especially those who engage frequently with news, are generally aware of artificial intelligence usage in news reports and open to use of AI for journalists’ routine reporting tasks. 

That awareness and openness are among key findings in new research about local news consumers’ perceptions of AI in news. Funded by Walton Family Foundation as part of the AI Community Journalism Lab, this research was conducted by Local Media Association and Local Media Foundation in collaboration with Trusting News, and evaluated news consumers’ responses to an 18-question survey.

Though respondents indicated awareness and openness, they also indicated discomfort about the use of AI in local journalism without guardrails. In fact, 98.8% said they want a human to be involved in a newsroom’s use of AI, especially before content is published.

Lynn Walsh, assistant director of Trusting News, said the AI Lab’s survey results were clear on human involvement: News consumers are not comfortable with AI helping journalists write.

“When it comes to the actual content creation, people are less comfortable with AI being used,” she said. “You see this even if you specify that a human will be involved in the process.”

Respondents’ feelings about AI overall were more cautious but open-minded (38.5%). “When you combine the percentages of ‘supportive’ and ‘interested and want to learn more’ with ‘cautious but open-minded,’ you see a more positive response [58.9%] than negative and a slightly more optimistic view of AI compared to other Trusting News survey results,” Walsh said.

Respondents’ comfort level with newsrooms using AI was mixed. More respondents reported being uncomfortable (47.6%) than comfortable (37.1%) with journalists using AI, even if that use was verified for accuracy before publication.

When considering respondents’ use of AI, Walsh said that AI users tended to be more “cautious but open-minded,” “supportive,” and “interested and want to learn more” about AI, while non-AI users are more likely to be “not supportive,” “skeptical, or uninterested.”

Walsh worked with the AI Lab’s participants and program director John M. Humenik to develop and conduct the online survey “How Should Newsrooms Use AI?” as part of lab participants’ experiments with use of AI in their newsrooms. The newsrooms published invitations to their audiences to participate in the survey as well as promoting it with a link on social media.

Survey data was gathered between Aug. 3 and Aug. 16, with 1,417 respondents participating from 16 states and Washington D.C. Almost half of those participating (49.4%) in the survey were heavy news consumers who responded that they engage with local news multiple times each day. Nearly half (49.5%) of the survey respondents were 65 years or older, and 71.7% identified as white.

“These are your probably most loyal subscribers, most loyal news consumers,” Walsh said. “These are the people that are most interested in consuming your news the most.”

Connecting with this group is important, especially when using AI in news, she noted.

“These are the current news consumers you have, so listening to them and using this [respondent survey] information to act on and make decisions is really important to help inform what you do next because if they’re telling you, ‘we don’t like AI,’ and you start really leaning into AI, you could see some problems,” she explained.

Questions in the survey focused on news consumers’ knowledge and use of AI, how comfortable they are with a variety of uses of AI-powered tools by newsrooms, and transparency about when and how AI is used by newsrooms. For a response to be used in the study, the respondent had to complete all of the survey questions. For some questions, they could select “prefer not to answer” or “not sure,” but they still had to provide a response.

Walsh said she sees people who say they are “cautious but open-minded” as an opportunity for local media. “You might be able to move them into more of this ‘supportive’ or ‘interested’ part of the feelings instead of just ‘cautious,’” she said.

Respondents indicated they also want transparency around journalists’ use of AI in news. The survey showed that 97.8% said they would want to know if AI was used by the newsroom.

“Not all AI uses are viewed equally,” Walsh explained. “Audiences are more comfortable with AI helping behind the scenes [transcription, for example] than producing stories.”

News consumers were asked which ways newsrooms could build trust with them when AI is used in journalism. They were offered four options and a write-in option, and could select all options that applied.

“When we asked how specific explanations about a new organization’s use of AI should be, the one that people selected most was the one that included the most information,” Walsh said.

In the survey, 68.5% responded that a clear explanation of what AI did (and didn’t) do would help build trust when AI is used in journalism. Also, 45.9% want to know if AI was used, the details about how it was used, and which tools were used.

“When you ask them what type of information they want, they tend to say that they want more information and would be comfortable with more detail than less,” Walsh explained.

Overwhelmingly (97.8%), respondents indicated they would want to know if AI was used by the newsroom. Only 14.5% said they wanted to know if AI was used but didn’t need any other details.

Newsrooms can strengthen trust with their audiences by treating AI as an opportunity to explain their reporting process and involve audiences in decisions, Walsh noted: “Clearly explain how AI supports your work and editorial standards.”

Asked whether they would support more use of AI by newsrooms if the work created using AI was held to the same ethical and accuracy standards as the newsroom’s other content, 46.4% of the survey respondents indicated they would.

Using the learnings from this survey, AI Lab participants will conduct additional community outreach initiatives to engage their audiences in ongoing conversations about their AI experiments and use of AI-powered tools.

Humenik said the goals of the AI Lab are to explore ways to create efficiency so newsrooms can spend more time covering local news, and to lead community outreach about AI. “The investment of time and resources are well worth it,” he said.

“Many uses of AI can absolutely help newsrooms become more efficient,” he continued. “But it’s important to first know what workflow problem you are trying to solve and why.”

He also believes that understanding respondents’ feelings about the use of AI in news can help inform which experiments newsrooms attempt and when. “Community outreach is an essential activity, especially using the survey to inform and engage respondents about AI use in news,” he said.

2025 NEWS CONSUMER AI SURVEY REPORT V4Download

About the AI Community Journalism Lab

The AI Community Journalism Lab is one of many programs under the direction of Local Media Association and Local Media Foundation. The AI Lab, funded by the Walton Family Foundation, involved 21 media companies from two LMA/LMF programs, the Knight x LMA BloomLab and the Family and Independent Media Sustainability (FIMS) Lab.

About Trusting News

Trusting News helps journalists earn trust through transparency and community engagement. Its previous survey of more than 6,000 news consumers found 94% want AI use in news disclosed. Those insights shaped its AI Trust Kit, now used globally to guide responsible and transparent AI practices in newsrooms.

About Local Media Association / Local Media Foundation

Local Media Association brings all media together to share, network, collaborate and more. More than 3,000 newspapers, TV stations, radio stations, digital news organizations, and research and development partners engage with LMA as members or constituents of our programs. As a 501(c)(6) trade association, LMA helps local media companies develop business strategies via cutting-edge programs, conferences, webinars, research and training.Local Media Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable trust, serves as the innovation and transformation affiliate of LMA. Incorporating our four strategic pillars — business transformation, journalism funded by philanthropy, industry collaboration, and sustainability for publishers of color — LMF helps provide local media companies the strategies and resources for meaningful innovation and impactful journalism projects.