Ousted Seattle TV news boss does some rep rehab

Laura Evans, who was recently fired as KIRO 7 News Director after a stormy three years that led to her being walked out the station and who was later ridiculed by staff posts on social media, is posting for herself on LinkedIn about her doctoral studies and what she saw while visiting the National Association of Broadcasters convention this week in Vegas.  Her reputational rehab is fully under way after getting a journalism fellowship in Germany.   From my vantage point she had a Plan B ready.

"Just back from the NAB conference, and one thing was clear: AI was everywhere. Not theoretical. Not emerging. Everywhere.

The scale of it was hard to ignore. AI is already being used in some capacity across many newsrooms. But what stood out at the National Association of Broadcasters' conference was how rapidly it is advancing and how deeply it could be integrated into every part of the media ecosystem.

That raises a bigger question for the United States:

In the U.S., AI in journalism is already being defined newsroom by newsroom, but not consistently. The question is whether the industry is comfortable with that.

In a conference filled with “try this AI product” and “here’s our AI solution,” one conversation stood apart. Leaders from NVIDIA, Dell Technologies, and the European Broadcasting Union, including Hans Hoffmann, focused not on what AI can do, but on how it should be governed.

There was a clear and urgent emphasis on the need for journalists to develop AI frameworks grounded in public service values, transparency, accountability, and cultural context. Through the work of the European Broadcasting Union, which brings together more than 100 public service media organizations, Europe is not waiting to react. It is actively working to define the terms.

The contrast in the United States is striking.

Right now, each media company is making its own decisions about how or if to use AI. There is little alignment, no shared playbook, and wide variation in standards. In my experience, this space is evolving faster than policies can keep up, creating real time decision making challenges inside newsrooms.

This is not just a question of technology. It is a question of governance.

As I work through my doctoral research on AI’s impact on journalism, one theme continues to emerge: trust in journalism is far more fragile than the technology is powerful.

Research from the Poynter Institute shows that audiences react negatively when they learn AI is involved in journalism. Trust remains the defining currency of this industry.

There are also real editorial risks. Even in closed or enterprise systems, issues around attribution, originality, and plagiarism are already surfacing.

AI presents a paradox for local journalism.

It can erode trust through synthetic content, weakened verification, and unclear attribution.

It can also strengthen journalism by expanding reporting capacity and enabling deeper work.

So the challenge ahead is clear:
What principles should define AI use in journalism?
Who should help set them?
And how do we make sure local news is strengthened, not diminished?

The future of local journalism will not be determined by AI itself.

It will be determined by whether the industry chooses to assert its values or outsource them."

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