Journalistic Epistemic Authority in the Age of AI: The Incorporation of Generative AI in Newsrooms

Abstract

Journalists are recognized as key producers and disseminators of knowledge, and the importance of their epistemic authority is well established. This study examines how journalists are enacting LLM-based generative AI (GenAI) tools in their epistemic work to maintain and enhance their authority as credible knowledge producers. Conceptualizing GenAI as a journalistic prosthesis—a technological extension of the journalist’s body and mind—the study pursues two interrelated objectives: First, to explore journalists’ perceptions of the risks and opportunities GenAI presents for their epistemic authority. Second, to investigate how these perceptions shape the integration of GenAI tools into everyday journalistic practices. The research focuses on a leading Israeli news organization, an early adopter of GenAI technologies, and draws on a combination of participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The analysis presents a framework that maps journalists’ enactments with GenAI across two dimensions: “administration” and “nature of input.” We examine the strategies and efforts journalists employ to preserve their epistemic authority and show that, through human–machine co-creation, they work to safeguard—and even strengthen—that authority by using GenAI tools in ways that maximize opportunities while minimizing associated risks.