Newsrooms Must Start Small And Build Direct Value With AI, Says JournalismAI Director Charlie Beckett | Exclusive

LSE JournalismAI Festival: "The great thing about generative AI is that it's very accessible," says Professor Charlie Beckett, Director of JournalismAI at the London School of Economics (LSE). The prominent journalist and educator was speaking on the sidelines of the LSE JournalismAI Festival in London, United Kingdom. 

Jagran New Media Editor-in-Chief Rajesh Upadhyay, who attended the festival earlier this month, spoke to Professor Beckett on how newsrooms can adopt AI meaningfully in everyday coverage. Beckett cautioned against rushing into large, unfocused AI experiments. Instead, he insisted that we should start small and specific. He suggested pinpointing a single measurable gap in the workflow where AI could bring clear value.

Building Direct Value, Not Dependency

When asked how newsrooms can bypass third-party platforms and create a direct monetisable value proposition with audiences, Beckett pointed to AI’s dual advantage. He explained that AI first drives efficiency, helping newsrooms reduce costs. But more importantly, it enables personalised audience experiences.

“We can provide a subscription model, a pay-as-you-go model or a membership model,” he said. “We can promise a personalised service, something tailored to the audience and interactive. That is going to build value.”

Beckett emphasised that personalisation powered by AI can help newsrooms strengthen direct audience relationships, reducing reliance on external intermediaries.

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Real Meaning Of Upskilling

On the topic of upskilling, Beckett clarified that journalists don’t need advanced technical backgrounds. Instead, they must improve their prompting and experiment with generative AI tools.

“It's very much a question of you experimenting with the particular tools and seeing whether they work, are efficient and adaptable. Then you can build up step by step. So it's very much a question of trying out the tools and seeing what works for you best personally, but also, best in your newsroom,” he noted.

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He encouraged collaborative learning, saying journalists often miss opportunities because colleagues fail to share useful AI practices.

Beckett also highlighted the JournalismAI website as a resource offering training and guidance and emphasised the importance of experimenting together, learning continuously, and using AI to build direct, personalised value for audiences.