Notebook: Our local journalism should work beyond AI blind spots
Used with care, some AI can boil down meeting videos. News consumers still need real journalists who step outside City Hall.
VIRGINIA BEACH — I recently wrote about people who aren’t professional journalists but want to provide public affairs reporting in Virginia Beach.
We can’t dismiss grassroots efforts to fill holes traditional media left in the public square. We also need caution when considering AI’s ability to find facts.
The nonprofit Rebuild Local News and media monitoring firm Muck Ruck recently found perhaps one in three U.S. counties lack what equates to a full-time reporter, meaning a professional who gathers news for that community.
Virginia Beach, the most populous city in our state, has one full-time journalist at The Virginian-Pilot. Others cover us sometimes.
AI research tools are positioning themselves to help plug gaps. I’ll mention one use of AI that seems to understands its limits. Another should be a warning.
This week, the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri published an article about how Illinois Times uses See Gov, a nonprofit AI tool, to summarize videos of public meetings and create video “highlights.”
“While the tool partially leans on AI to transcribe and create summaries of the meetings, it requires a human to decide which highlights to include in these shorter videos,” Emily Lytle and Sophia Anderson reported.
“We’re taking a three-hour meeting and bringing it down to like 10 to 15 minutes of just the discussions that are most impactful to the community,” Alex Rosen, See Gov’s executive director, told them. People vet material before it is used.
Here AI helps a small newsroom provide what it couldn’t do alone. Illinois Times seems to be looking over AI’s shoulder, as it should. A final product represents video segments that have been shortened with edits made clear.
See Gov has one other media partner listed at its site. It says it is expanding. It allows users to search for local meetings, but the library seems small, for now.
It uses AI to transcribe and process meetings, dividing them into moments a news organization or “civic creator” could boil down into a reel prior to publication. A video at this link explains it. I’m interested to see whether it grows.
Another tool, Citizen Portal, includes Virginia Beach in a sizable meeting library. It’s consumer-aimed, selling subscriptions. It says it “empowers you with clear, trusted, local and national civic information — so you can vote smarter, hold leaders accountable, and protect democracy right where you live.”
I checked out a summary related to a community issue I’ve covered, and I read two others from a meeting I attended. I came away with concerns.
One AI summary did fine with a School Board presentation about improving meeting accessibility. You could identify the overall idea.
Another summary from the same meeting didn’t connect related remarks at different times. Worse, it incorrectly paraphrased comments about a sensitive matter that’s been under investigation. The summary contains a major factual error.
There were other issues, too, but that one was the showstopper. Civic leagues, activists and newshounds should take note and use care. Dan Ray of NOLO has a rundown of libel issues related to AI that’s worth your time.
A third summary was about the local voting referendum. It stated, without attribution, “The outcome of this referendum will not only impact the structure of the City Council but also the way citizens engage with their local government.”
This predicts a tomorrow Virginia Beach may never know.
Summaries may help extremely careful journalists, but I’m not sure I would be confident using it because a responsible publisher would want to rewatch everything to verify a summary. That doesn’t necessarily save time.
Further, these summaries are already published. Some people assume written AI summaries are journalism. Superficially, the ones at this site look like typical online news stories. I’ve seen Citizen Portal’s stuff appear in Google News listings, including a handful of Virginia Beach meeting summaries.
Public meeting coverage has been part of my work for decades. I believe employing professional local journalists is the best way to have competent news gathering in our city. We’re all fallible, but there is a discipline to doing this.
I recently wrote about the potential return of a restaurant to a city-managed farmers market. An element of the story was a public hearing about a lease, but it was barely mentioned from the dais. I doubt AI would notice it.
To tell that story, I interviewed folks in person, made calls, sent email, read documents and visited the market with the businessperson. A terrific editor made the story clearer and better. News gathering is a craft and a process.
We should value it enough to save it.
We shouldn’t confuse shortcuts with solutions.
Input determines output.
Stacy Parker at The Virginian-Pilot had a story about the late Bobby Melatti, who made a difference in many ways. I only knew him a little, but he was kind and interesting.
Looks like Trader Joe’s is going to Town Center.
Trader Joe’s confirms new location at Virginia Beach Town Center [July 14]
It’s official! Trader Joe’s is coming to Town Center [July 16]
New Trader Joe’s Stores Coming Soon To DC And Virginia, Officials Say [July 16]
Sounds familiar.
Which ‘prominent grocer’ is opening at Virginia Beach Town Center? Trader Joe’s says it’s looking. [Jan. 26]
The wait is over: Trader Joe’s is coming to Virginia Beach’s Town Center [Feb. 25]
Trader Joe's could be coming to Virginia Beach Town Center [Feb. 26]
Trader Joe’s files for ABC license for new Virginia Beach site [Feb. 26]
Trader Joe's applies for ABC license at address of former Town Center Bed Bath & Beyond [Feb. 26]
WHRO’s Katherine Hafner had an environmental story that’s a little gross and a lot fascinating.
Here’s what I filed for WHRO.
Roundup:
Vinyl spins? Page One by Joe Henderson for the third week running.
Pickup truck listening? Adventure by Television and Fair Warning by Van Halen. Mostly podcasts and the news.
Newsroom playlist? Songs from the West Coast by Elton John and Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson.
Books? After I gave up on an impenetrable biography, Cortney grabbed some books at the library. I’m reading Havana Requiem by Paul Goldstein. Good so far.
New vinyl? Tempted to buy a rerelease of Adventure by Television. But didn’t.
Local produce? A little basil. Garden’s coming along.
Meetings? Virginia Beach Agricultural Advisory Commission, some YouTube watches and partial rewatches of two School Board meetings. Read a little in my library book while waiting out an executive session.
Coolest moment? Two cookies after the ag meeting. Immediately confessed when I got home. As I write this, The Bean is baking cookies. Will I be strong?
Skink still in the newsroom? Same one, I think.
Snake or garden hose? Snake-free since Saturday.
A Hopscotch and Blue Robotics collab plays us out. Seems a little pro-robot.
© 2025 John-Henry Doucette
Great article, John, with lots to think about. I’m quite hesitant about AI. I’ve been at meetings that you had attended and then covered in the Indie. This piece makes me want to see your coverage side-by-side that of AI. Is it possible?