AI Hype Is Reshaping Journalism, Not Just Fueling Excitement, UMass Study Finds

The buzz surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) is doing more than generating excitement—it is transforming the structure and priorities of journalism, according to new research published in Digital Journalism by University of Massachusetts Amherst journalism scholar Rodrigo Zamith and co-authors.

“Hype is about more than just possibilities or disappointment,” said Zamith, associate professor and chair of journalism at UMass Amherst. “It directs our attention and our resources, and what people and organizations choose to mobilize around.”

The study argues that AI hype has tangible consequences for newsroom operations, labor relations, and public perception of journalism, prompting both innovation and anxiety in a financially strained industry.

Understanding the “AI Turn” in Journalism

News organizations worldwide have raced to form AI partnerships with technology firms or to integrate automation into their workflows. Meanwhile, labor unions and professional societies are developing safeguards to prevent misuse of AI tools.

Zamith describes this as part of journalism’s broader “AI turn”—a period marked by heightened debate over what skills and functions remain uniquely human as machines take on more complex editorial tasks.

Mapping the Hype: A Framework for Understanding

Co-authored with Seth C. Lewis of the University of Oregon and Jon Benedik A. Bunquin of the University of the Philippines, the paper introduces a five-part matrix explaining how technological hype produces both symbolic and material effects within journalism.

1. Attentional Hype — Creates a sense of urgency and importance around AI, encouraging newsrooms to appear innovative or defend traditional practices.
2. Orientational Hype — Directs newsroom resources toward specific AI tools or goals, sometimes at the expense of other priorities.
3. Signaling Hype — Shapes how journalists portray AI in reporting, often reinforcing narratives of progress and inevitability.
4. Mobilizing Hype — Drives partnerships, ethical codes, and collective action, including union-led protections and AI-provider agreements.
5. Reflexive Hype — Prompts journalists to reconsider their professional identity and values as AI takes on creative and analytical work once done by humans.

Implications for Newsrooms and the Public

Internally, AI hype is influencing staffing decisions and resource allocation. Externally, it shapes how the public and policymakers view journalism’s evolving role in the digital era.

“Journalism is an industry constantly being challenged to do more with less,” Zamith said. “When journalists and their managers start talking about where to invest their limited resources, hype around AI plays a really big role.”

While Zamith believes human journalists will always be needed to cultivate sources, identify stories, and verify facts, he notes that AI is already automating many routine newsroom tasks such as copyediting, transcription, tagging, and content adaptation.

“When people talk about AI as the future of journalism,” he said, “I think AI is already the present of journalism.”

Hype as a Catalyst for Change

The researchers conclude that while hype is often exaggerated, it serves as a signal of deeper cultural and institutional shifts.

“Hype brings up possibilities for the future,” Zamith said. “We need to focus on which possibilities we want to incentivize—and how we can incentivize them. For example, how can we incentivize AI that better serves democracy?”

The study underscores that understanding and guiding the influence of AI hype may be essential to shaping ethical, inclusive, and democratically aligned journalism in the years ahead.