Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner just dropped a newsroom bomb: if you’re in media and not using AI, you’d better have a damn good reason.
He didn’t make a suggestion. He mandated the use of AI. And it’s coming from the CEO of Europe’s largest publisher, the parent company of Politico and Business Insider.
It’s bold. It’s urgent. And quite frankly, it puts South Africa’s sluggish, fearful approach to shame.
We love to see it.
Döpfner: AI is News is expected, not optional
Speaking at an internal meeting streamed from Berlin, Döpfner told staff:
“Nobody in the company has to explain why she or he is using AI to do something. […] You only have to explain if you didn’t use AI. That shouldn’t happen.”
As reported by The Wrap, he described AI as a “new beginning, a new era,” and warned that the first wave of AI in the workplace is “nothing compared to what’s coming.”
He encouraged boldness. Mistakes are fine, as long as they’re acknowledged and addressed. Errors are acceptable. Hesitation isn’t. Döpfner explains:
“You use AI how much you want but you also take the responsibility that you double- and triple-check that it’s true,. If you made a mistake with the AI it’s the same as if you would had done it without AI.”
“We would never say this article was made with the help of AI,” he said. “We always use all sources of information, and in the future more and more AI.”
This guy. He speaks my language.
Meanwhile, in South Africa…
In South African media, why is it the reverse? Why is caution the default?
We need newsroom leaders to say: “Use it, but verify. Experiment, but stay ethical. Train, but don’t ban.”
Instead of burying their heads in the sand, South African publishers should take a page from Döpfner’s playbook:
- Build policies
- Create training
- Track usage
- Be transparent
Because if AI is going to change journalism (and it is), we have a choice: lead it, or get steamrolled by it.
