Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of nearly every news organization. Some publishers use it to summarize interviews or generate headlines. Others rely on it for coding, research, audience development, marketing or advertising operations. While adoption varies, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: every publisher needs a thoughtful approach to AI.
The challenge isn’t simply deciding whether to use artificial intelligence. It’s determining how to use it responsibly, transparently and ethically while maintaining the trust of readers, advertisers and business partners.
That’s why Editor & Publisher has decided to publicly document its own journey through the Alliance for Audited Media’s (AAM) Ethical AI Certification process.
Rather than simply reporting on the program, E&P will become a participant —sharing the questions, discoveries and lessons learned along the way. Over the next three months, readers will follow the publication as it evaluates its own policies, governance, disclosures and internal processes against AAM’s Ethical AI Certification framework before culminating in a live webinar this September featuring AAM, E&P and a major publisher that has completed the certification process.
“We’re experimenting with AI and not fearing it,” said Mike Blinder, publisher of E&P. “But we want to do it ethically.” That philosophy made the certification process particularly appealing.
More than an AI policy
Many publishers have already drafted AI policies. Some have published them publicly. Others continue to debate what should—or shouldn’t—be permitted inside their newsrooms.
According to AAM, however, responsible AI governance extends well beyond having a written policy.
The Ethical AI Certification framework examines eight areas that together create a comprehensive approach to responsible AI use. They include policies and governance, transparency and disclosure, rights and permissions, accountability and human oversight, bias and fairness, privacy and data protection, staff training, and risk management.
Adam Garbati, vice president of media operations at AAM, explained that organizations shouldn’t think of the certification as an exam but rather as an opportunity to evaluate where they currently stand. “The first step is to take a look at where you are,” Garbati said. “It’s a gap analysis. What documents do you have? How are they written? If you already have an AI-use policy, you can hold it against the framework and see whether you’re checking all the boxes.”
Rather than expecting perfection from day one, AAM designed the process to help organizations identify opportunities for improvement before certification. “This is really new to everyone,” Garbati said. “I fully expect there to be some back and forth. We may identify additional gaps, but we work through that discovery process with the organization until it reaches the point of certification.”
Questions every publisher is asking
One reason E&P chose to share the process publicly is that many of the questions facing its own newsroom mirror those being asked throughout the industry.
Editor-in-Chief Gretchen Peck has spent the past year interviewing publishers, technology executives and newsroom leaders about AI adoption. She believes most organizations are still trying to establish practical standards. “AI is still so fledgling that we’re all trying to wrap our arms around what constitutes ethical use, when we need to disclose it and all of these key questions,” Peck said.
For E&P, one immediate question involved its newsroom structure. Unlike many traditional publishers, much of E&P’s editorial content is produced by freelance journalists working under editorial supervision. That raised an important discussion during the kickoff meeting.
“Our newsroom is composed largely of freelancers,” Peck said. “I can’t govern exactly how freelancers operate, although I require them to tell me if they use AI. Is that a negative strike against us in this process?”
Rather than viewing that as a problem, Garbati explained that every publisher operates differently and that the certification process is designed to understand those differences before recommending appropriate solutions.
Designed to be practical
One aspect of the framework that impressed the E&P team was its emphasis on practicality.
The certification is intended to establish meaningful governance without creating unrealistic barriers for publishers of different sizes and technical capabilities. “It has the core things that we think are very important to have implemented,” Garbati said, “but it’s not so arduous that it becomes unapproachable.”
During the discussion, E&P also acknowledged that some recommended practices—such as embedding machine-readable AI disclosures within content metadata—may currently exceed the capabilities of many publishers’ content management systems. The framework recognizes that reality, making some advanced technical recommendations optional while focusing certification on foundational governance and transparency practices.
Why document the journey?
For E&P, this project isn’t simply about earning a certification. It is an opportunity to better understand how responsible AI governance is evolving across the news industry—and to share those lessons with publishers that may be asking the same questions.
The series will examine not only what works but also where challenges arise, what changes E&P ultimately makes to its own practices, and which parts of the framework prove most valuable.
Throughout the process, E&P will document its experience as it reviews policies, evaluates disclosures, assigns organizational responsibilities and prepares documentation for independent review.
“We’ll use the framework as a checklist,” Peck said. “We’ll see what we can supply quickly and what we still need to work on.”
What’s next
This article marks the beginning of E&P’s Ethical AI Certification journey.
In next month’s installment, readers will go behind the scenes as E&P begins working through the certification requirements, sharing the practical decisions, unexpected challenges and policy discussions that emerge during the process.
Then, in September, E&P will report on what it learned, the improvements it made and the key takeaways other publishers should consider as they develop their own AI governance strategies.
The series will culminate this September with a live webinar featuring representatives from the Alliance for Audited Media, Editor & Publisher and a publisher that has successfully completed the certification process. Together, they’ll discuss what responsible AI governance looks like today, why it matters, and what every news organization should know as artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly permanent part of modern publishing.
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