Machine Bias: Investigating Algorithmic Injustice, ProPublica series, September 1, 2015—December 13, 2019. Reporting by Julia Angwin and colleagues, including the article Machine Bias, on racially biased software used in criminal sentencing, which many experts cite as the beginning of what is now known as algorithmic accountability reporting.
Google Elevates Anti-LGBTQ News Sites, Matt Tracy, Gay City News, October 9, 2019. Good example of a DIY algorithm audit, exposing how Google promotes what Tracy described as “some of the web’s fringiest alt-right, anti-gay news websites” in response to searches for LGBTQ news.
Google Has a Secret Blocklist that Hides YouTube Hate Videos from Advertisers—But It’s Full of Holes, Leon Yin and Aaron Sankin, The Markup, April 8, 2021. Google Ad’s blocklist missed dozens of hate terms used by White supremacists and White nationalists. First of two-part series, with Yin and Sankin’s follow-up report here.
AI Can Change Belief in Conspiracy Theories, Study Finds, Nicola Davis, The Guardian, September 12, 2024. Research conducted using an AI system called “DebunkBot” challenges the conventional wisdom that evidence and arguments do little to change the minds of people who believe false claims.
How Advertisers Defund Crisis Journalism, Ben Parker, The New Humanitarian, January 27, 2021. How advertising blocklists are “undermining corporate social responsibility and effectively punishing publishers for reporting on international crises.”
Removing Bias from Devices and Diagnostics Can Save Lives, Cassandra Willyard, Scientific American, November 2024. How medical researchers and clinicians are redesigning algorithms to address deep-rooted racial biases in medical diagnoses. The Association of Health Care Journalists published an interview with Willyard about her investigation.
How We Investigated Shadowbanning on Instagram, Tomas Apodaca and Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett, The Markup, February 25, 2024. Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Instagram has “heavily demoted” non-graphic war images, deleted captions and hid comments without notification, suppressed hashtags, and limited users’ abilities to appeal moderation decisions.
AI’s Impact on Grassroots Journalism, Celine Schreiber, Weave News, November 8, 2024. Examines how artificial intelligence is influencing the identity of grassroots journalism, and what challenges it poses to the authenticity and human connection at the core of community-based reporting, including its mission to amplify marginalized voices. Part of the Weave News series Echoes & Algorithms, on the evolving relationship between grassroots journalism and artificial intelligence.
Generative AI in the Newsroom (GAIN), is a collaborative effort to explore responsible use of generative AI in news production. GAIN is edited by Nick Diakopoulos and Jeremy Gilbert and was launched on Medium in January 2023 by the Computational Journalism Lab at Northwestern University with support from the Knight Foundation.
The Tech Transparency Project is an information and research hub for journalists, academics, policymakers and members of the public interested in exploring the influence of the major technology platforms on politics, policy, and our lives. It covers the power, influence, and effects of all the major technology companies.
The Solutions Journalism Network’s Story Tracker includes a running collection of solutions reporting focused on Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.