AI has become a part of our daily lives during the past few years, and it has had both a positive and negative impact. One example is how it shapes today’s journalism — including the effects it has on the employees and general sales. Employees and readers of the Daily News-Record expressed their opinions on their jobs, AI’s impact and the value of having a local newspaper.
Shari Keyes is the publisher and ad director of the Daily News-Record. She said she enjoys serving the community through the press, and acknowledges that more people have begun to go online instead of buying physical copies.
“The times that we are in, it’s getting harder and harder. People are kind of veering away from print, and going more towards online,” Keyes said.
Keyes has been finding new ways to keep people interested in the paper. She explained that taking care of her employees keeps them motivated, and thus improves their working environment.
“One thing is trying to take care of your employees,” Keyes said. “So, offering certain bonuses and spiffs to internal people to be able to help them better do their job.”
Lee Zion, a reporter for the Daily News Record, shows his enthusiasm for his job. He said he enjoys the feeling of accomplishment when the day ends.
“There is no normal work day. One of the things I like about this job is that every day is different,” Zion said.
Zion doesn’t have a high opinion of AI in journalism, except that he “hate[s] it.”.
“People speak in praise of AI, and yet, I find stories on the internet that are absolutely horrible,” he said.
Zion described a story he found that failed to describe any details, including the name of the town the story was placed in.
“Here I am, hard at work, creating actual news, and I’m being undermined by fake news stories like this,” he said.Rheagan Nelson, another reporter for the Daily News-Record, shared her daily working process with the paper:. she finds news stories to write about, and said she especially loves promoting new entrepreneurs in the business industry. Although younger people are being drawn to online news, Nelson said she isn’t worried.
“Even if there aren’t hard copies being sold, we still know that people are checking our subscriptions online,” Nelson said. She added that even though hard copies are being bought less, the newspaper industry continues to thrive.
Kenneth Amerson, a Harrisonburg local, has been buying the newspaper for over 50 years. Though he continues to be a regular consumer of the press, he said he misses the way things used to be written in the paper.
“They used to put on weddings,” Amerson said. “It’s just not a local newspaper anymore.”
Despite this, The Daily News Record, which has been running for over 100 years, continues to hold value in our community.
“You can find out what’s going on anywhere in the world at the push of a button, but that same button can’t tell you what’s going on in your hometown,” Zion said.
