Researcher Spotlight: Using AI to Address Gaps in Journalism Texts

Gavin Adamson, Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Journalism, is working on the Journalism Representation Index as a resident researcher at The Creative School Catalyst.

Journalism Representation Index (JeRI) is a research project that aims to evaluate the diversity of sources in journalism texts. JeRI is a software that uses a set of algorithms to identify all the sources journalists speak to in journalistic texts.

After identifying the sources, JeRI categorizes them based on the type of the source. Categories include “expert sources,” such as sources from organizations, “unaffiliated sources,” such as students, “authorities,” such as police, judges and religious authorities.

“Sources aren’t everything, but they are a critical part of the decision-making process in newsrooms, so we thought that this is a good way to use AI to help journalists,” said Adamson.

JeRI allows newsrooms to record how they are tackling a subject over time. It also acts as an accountability tool that helps journalists keep track of the use of sources in their work.

The software is meant to be used as an internal newsroom tool that identifies gaps in a journalist’s story, he said. This way, the software allows journalists to tell a more complete story by having a variety of sources in their article.

Partnering with the Winnipeg Free Press and Ottawa-based NovaceneAI, the goal of the project is to apply this tool to assess articles about First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, said Adamson.

“Manitoba is a province that has a large First Nations, Métis and Inuit population. The editor and publisher [at the Winnipeg Free Press] are serious about improving the coverage about the issues related to those peoples, they want to build trust,” he said.

The software is currently in a prototype stage. In the second phase of the project, the JeRI team will be collaborating with First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations in Manitoba, looking at the build and functionality of the software and the analysis of the output.

“We received some interest from Indigenous communities from Manitoa about the project, and frankly without that interest, we wouldn’t be able to go forward,” said Adamson.

The discussions around how journalism frames stories should start with who journalists speak to, he said.

This idea sparked the start of the JeRI project. Collaborating with TMU’s school of journalism associate professor Asmaa Malik, the duo came up with the idea of automating the process of analyzing texts to bring the sources used in a story front and centre. The goal is to identify if stories on Indigenous communities include sufficient sources from the communities the stories affect.

The project is a work in progress. With the rapid change and development of AI, the team is considering changing the algorithms JeRI uses to ensure high levels of functionality and accuracy. As of December 2024, JeRI received a Mitacs Business Strategy Internship to advance the AI program. In its current state, the program can misidentify some journalism sources, particularly those related to Indigenous populations. Tabassum Sultana, a PhD candidate in computer science at TMU, will be working with NovaceneAI to find a solution to this AI challenge.

For Adamson, there’s a crossover of interest between JeRI and other researchers not only within the faculty, but cross-faculty as well.

“We think there’s a lot of opportunities for us to get together and collaborate with other researchers within the faculty and across Gould St. with computer science and engineering researchers too,” he said. “They can bring different perspectives to these conversations and can take insights from these conversations to their own disciplines too.”

To learn more about the Journalism Representation Index go to their website at https://www.jeriproject.org (external link) .

The Creative School Catalyst

The Creative School Catalyst is a large-scale space dedicated to scholarly, research, and creative (SRC) activities within The Creative School. It supports a vast scope of potential, emerging, and ongoing projects and brings people together to explore, innovate, and impact our world. The Catalyst transforms ideas to success stories, with tailored guides, grants, and funding opportunities to support research and ignite innovative ideas.

Faculty, students, and staff can submit their own SRC story for the oppritunity to be featured by  (google form) following this link (external link, opens in new window) .