Journalism track
AI competency, measured for journalism and news media
Separated from the creative and media track because a newsroom’s obligations are different from a studio’s. Verification, sourcing, disclosure to the audience and accountability for what is published are journalistic duties with a written standard, and the items are built on that standard: what may be drafted, what must be checked, what must be disclosed, and where a byline still means a person.
Who sits this track
Reporters, editors, producers, fact-checkers and newsroom leadership, in print, broadcast and digital news.
Fifteen tracks exist because the competencies that matter to a clinician are not the ones that matter to a teacher, and neither set is what matters to a ten-year-old. The three proficiency levels and the scoring are shared. The items are not.
The judgment this track measures
Scenario items ask what a person would do, not what a term means. These are the situations the journalism items are built around.
- A quote or a document a tool produced that has to be verified before it is published
- Disclosing to readers what part of a story a system produced
- A synthetic image or recording arriving as a tip
- Confidential sources in a tool you do not control
- Deciding which editorial decisions may never be delegated to a system
- Length
- 40 items, plus the readiness checklist.
- Time
- 20 to 25 minutes. No time limit.
- Levels
- Acquire, Deepen, Create.
- Status
- In development
- Result
- Not pass or fail. A baseline and a set of gaps.
What this track answers to
Anchored to the Paris Charter on AI and Journalism, convened by Reporters Without Borders, and to C2PA content provenance standards.
Not published yet, and said so on purpose
Common questions
Is the Journalism track available today?
Not yet. The Journalism and News Media track is in development, which means framework research and item writing are underway. Register interest and we will tell you when it is published.
How long does it take?
Most people complete the assessment in 20 to 25 minutes. There is no time limit.
Is it pass or fail?
No. The assessment returns a proficiency level and domain scores. There is no passing score. The purpose is to establish a baseline and identify areas for development.
How is this different from the other tracks?
Separated from the creative and media track because a newsroom’s obligations are different from a studio’s. Verification, sourcing, disclosure to the audience and accountability for what is published are journalistic duties with a written standard, and the items are built on that standard: what may be drafted, what must be checked, what must be disclosed, and where a byline still means a person.
Do participants choose their own track?
No. The access code an organization issues is bound to one track, and entering it puts the participant on the right instrument automatically.
Who sees my results?
Your results appear on screen as soon as you finish. Whether the organization that issued your code also receives them is set by that organization and disclosed to you before you begin.
What is it validated against?
Every track is content-validated before publication by an independent panel of at least six subject matter experts, none of them the item authors, and is accepted at a scale-level S-CVI/Ave of 0.90 or above.
Sources
- UNESCO AI Competency Framework for TeachersUNESCO, September 2024. 15 competencies across five dimensions and three progression levels.
- Lynn, Nursing Research, 1986Determination and quantification of content validity. The origin of the four-point ordinal CVI scale and its acceptance thresholds.
- Polit and Beck, Research in Nursing & Health, 2006The content validity index: are you sure you know what's being reported? Critique and recommendations.
- Paris Charter on AI and JournalismReporters Without Borders with 16 partner organizations, November 2023. Ten principles for the use of AI in newsrooms.
- C2PACoalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, a Linux Foundation project. Content Credentials provenance standard.