Reading is a staple of early elementary education. It’s something that we learn so early on, we do it without thinking. It’s what people have known how to do it for years and maybe even decades. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly common for younger generations to be unable to read. Literacy rates among children around the country are falling, and rapidly.
This problem is prevalent in upper elementary school. According to an article from theNational Center of Education Statistics, 67% of children in fourth grade read under the standard level. Children entering fourth grade around 9 to 10 years of age being behind the curve might never catch up.
These children contribute to the eventual 8,000 kids a day that drop out of high school. The number of academically at-risk kids will only grow larger if the problem isn’t fixed.
Photo by Jonathan Borba
34% of children entering kindergarten do not have the skills needed to read. Lacking in these skills may turn out poorly for these children in the future.
These statistics are worryingly low for a generation of people that have access to almost any book they could want. Reading has become increasingly accessible to everyone through apps and websites such as Kindle and Scholastic. as As more people gain access to resources such as these, literacy rates should be increasing.
“The reason for the lack of expert readers in elementary school is because of the expectations of the school board, requiring teachers to push students to the next grade level without meeting the minimum requirements,” said Jemila Davis, an elementary school teacher.
School teachers are being encouraged to move on the students rather than make sure they learn what they need to. This is causing the children to miss out on information they need to know, for the sake that they can finish school “on time.”
If teachers and administration take necessary steps, we can improve our education system in general.
There’s no doubt that in 2024, we as a society live in two worlds – the one that’s physical, and the one that exists solely in our phones and computers, the world of social media.
Among all the different social media apps available, there is none quite like Snapchat. According to a 2024 study, there are currently 107.61 million Snapchat users in the United States. Snapchat makes it possible to communicate with many people at once with disappearing messages and snaps. Its casual and secretive nature has made it very attractive to teenagers and young adults. However, it is important to consider the effects that Snapchat can have on one’s personal relationships, especially romantic ones.
“Snapchat is a way for people to hide what they are doing with someone else from their friend or a partner,” said Averi Staus, an aspiring journalist.
Snapchat’s “snapscore” feature can create insecurity and awkwardness in relationships. By checking someone’s snapscore, one can see if they had snapped anyone by paying attention to whether or not the number had increased. This becomes problematic when one partner is waiting for a snap back from the other, and notices that their partner’s snapscore has gone up. This leads the person to wonder, “Who were they snapping if not me?”
“It can make you very obsessive over someone,” Staus said of the snapscore feature.
Snapchat also provides another unique feature known as the “snapmap.” The snapmap allows users to have access to the location of their friends on Snapchat if they have it allowed in their settings.
17-year-old Kathryn Bryan said this has caused problems. “For relationships, it makes people want to obsessively check locations to make sure cheating or lying is not going on.”
Snapchat ranks the eight people you interact with most as your “best friends list.” Someone may be concerned by this if they notice that someone else is higher up on their partner’s best friend list than them. Although this does not necessarily mean anything, it could lead someone to believe their partner is cheating or cause mistrust in the relationship.
Snapchat, along with all social media platforms, can be problematic for a person’s mental health. Studies report that 59% of people say that social media has negatively affected their mental health. If someone is struggling with their own mental state, how can they be expected to maintain a healthy relationship? Snapchat hurts relationships, even indirectly, through causing anxiety and depression.
Finally, Snapchat opens the door for cheating. The app gives people the ability to hide messages and who they are talking to easily and without a trace. Although most users of Snapchat are not cheaters, the app enables the people who are to get away with it with ease. It can also cause unwarranted suspicion and tension.
“Snapchat can be really unhealthy for a relationship.” Staus said.
I was sitting in my fourth period history class when, for the third time, my history teacher stopped and stared at our class. As I looked around to figure out why he stopped talking, I noticed multiple students looking down at their phones. This situation is happening across the country and not enough is being done to stop phone usage during school.
According to Education Weekly, 97% of students use their phones at some point during the school day. Although this is an alarmingly high percentage of students, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Our entire society now revolves around a metal talking device.
I have come to realize the tremendous effect that cell phone usage is having on my peers and me. Many of us stay up late talking to friends, watching shows or just aimlessly scrolling through social media which ends up ruining our sleep schedule. The worst part about this endless cycle of cell phone usage is the fact that we’re all aware of how horrible it is for us and our mental health, but we also can’t seem to get off the internet because it’s everywhere.
“I think especially when you’re just in your bed at night, scrolling on your phone, you’re like ‘one more show’ or ‘one more video’ but you keep constantly scrolling and it’s an endless cycle,” sophomore Emory Miller said.
Lack of sleep has a direct correlation with performance in school and Idaho State University wrote an article titled “How Sleep Impacts Your Studies” that proves this statement. The article goes on to talk about how lack of sleep can lead to a decrease in focus and memory, an increase in irritability and anxiety, and physical exhaustion. All of those factors are critical in the outcome of someone’s day and I can attest that a lack of sleep hinders my learning experience.
Aside from the physical effects that cell phone usage can have on school performance out of school, there are many factors that affect school performances in school. One of the most concerning is the increase in cheating and how easy it has become to cheat. A study found on Verywell Family says that 35% of teens admit to using their phones to cheat on homework or tests and 65% of the same students stated that they’ve seen their peers using phones to cheat. As a student myself, I can attest to how easy cheating has become in school (not that I would ever cheat). Platforms like Quizlet and Socratic allow you to look up a question and receive the answer almost instantly, but they also help when it comes to studying so it just depends on how you use the resource. Now with the introduction of AI into classrooms, there has been a tremendous increase in fabricated work, and we can only expect this issue to grow with time.
Along with the cheating, students spend their time in class scrolling on their phones, listening to music, watching TV, or shopping online. This limits student’s ability to focus and retain information during lectures. An article written by the Berkeley High Jacket called “Teenage Attention Spans: Where Did They Go?” talks about how teens’ attention span is task-dependent and how we could spend hours scrolling on the internet but can only focus on homework for less than twenty minutes. I have noticed my attention span shorten as the years pass and I can confidently say it’s because of TikTok. I used to love watching movies but now I’m lucky if I manage to watch an episode of a show without going on my phone because my brain gets bored so fast. Obviously, in a room full of teenagers, people are going to get bored and go on their devices, but if a phone ban was placed the kids would have no choice but to listen.
At the root of my reason in favor of a phone ban in school is the teachers. Our teachers spend countless hours preparing lesson plans and making sure that our curriculum is adequate and it breaks my heart to see students disregard their hard work by going on their phones.
Along the streets of downtown Athens, Georgia from June 21-23, crowds mingle on the streets checking out the street vendors, whilst the smell of festival food wafts throughout. Locals and visitors make small talk as bands get ready for their next song.
“While I’m watching a live band, I could be supporting a local barbecue smoker and eating a rib while supporting local artists, I don’t know,” said Gracie Waters, a local of Athens.
Athens is often a place not recognizable without a map. However, despite the town’s humble appearance, Athens has been home to many bands known worldwide including R.E.M, Widespread Panic and the B-52’s. These are all bands that have origins within the Athens community.
There is no better way to celebrate and honor the vibrant art culture in Athens than a three-day festival dedicated to celebrating the local artists, bands and businesses. The AthFest Music & Arts Festival is held in the middle of June, signifying the halfway of summer.
This festival includes an artist market made up of over 70 booths with work from local and non-local artists, sponsor booths, retail vendors, along with food trucks. KidFest is included in AthFest as well which allows for a family-friendly environment.
Arguably, the main attraction at AthFest, however, are the music performances. There are three outdoor stages, with artists performing on all three. At KidFest, the Full Moon School of Music is performing on Friday night. Gracie Waters is one of the performers who will be singing.
“[AthFest] encourages people to look at different kinds of music and stuff and also be able to see the different bands who are local in Athens,” Waters said. “I think it’s gonna be a fun experience to be on stage, and I’ve worked hard for it.”
In addition to the main outdoor stages, AthFest also holds a ClubCrawl, hosted by some of Athens’ most iconic venues. 40 Watt Club, The Georgia Theatre, Hendershots, Cine and the Foundry, are only some of the venues helping to host ClubCrawl. There will be 94 bands being hosted from Friday to Sunday just through ClubCrawl. In all, AthFest will host around 156 bands, both local and not.
Some past artists who have played at AthFest include, John Mayer, Jennifer Nettles, and Kishi Bashi.
AthFest is made possible by the many local sponsors that help this festival take place. One of the sponsors of AthFest, is TheRed & Black, a local student run newspaper in Athens.
“The Red & Black is a fellow nonprofit organization here in Athens, and we adopt a culture of philanthropy, both in our own organization as well as in our community, because we would hope to have the same support from our community as well,” said Charlotte Norsworthy Varnum, executive director of the Red and Black newspaper.
“AthFest is such a pivotal event in Athens, we have covered it for as long as it’s been around, and we really just see it as an opportunity to showcase our support for AthFest educates and the cause and the mission that it serves,” Varnum said. “To get the idea being that if we all support one another, we will all thrive and make our community better.”
Not only is AthFest a way for the community to get together, AthFest also raises money for AthFest Educates.
As of 2024, AthFest has issued over $620,000 in grants throughout Athens, and the Clarke County School District. This includes all of the elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.
The Red & Black sponsor AthFest for the very purpose that it raises money for AthFest educates.
“We are training the future of the free press,” said Varnum. “And so the idea of education in general is incredibly important. We also kind of culturally believe that knowledge is power, right? We provide free, reliable news to our community. And so the overall idea is a mission, alignment for us, music and arts education is just as important as the education that we provide to our community that makes people more civically engaged and able to make decisions and live their lives.”
As the music dies down, and the festivities come to a close on Sunday night, AthFest’s impact does not disappear. Throughout the next year, the money raised will continue to have an impact on students in the Clarke County School district through grants and special projects.
“AthFest is so unique compared to any other music festival that I’ve ever gone to, and I love the idea that it’s all the local conjunctions of what makes Athens culture so unique together in one event,” Varnum said. “It’s just a great thing to pay witness to.”
Baseball, the one sport that has a player that can decide every play, the pitcher.
The pitcher is the most important player on the field. For example, if he throws a pitch right down the middle, bye bye ball. But if he throws a pitch at the very corner of the strike zone, every player is just going to stare at it until the umpire calls it a ball or strike.
Leighton Finley, a 6’5, 235-pound sophomore walk-on pitcher at the University of Georgia threw 104 pitches in one game. He threw into the high 80’s and low 90’s on every single pitch.
“I compare pitchers that can throw fast to sports cars,” said former UGA baseball coach Scott Stricklin.
Just like cars, when pitchers throw fast constantly without a break, they can break down.
Stricklin said there are ways a pitcher can avoid injuries, mainly focusing on specific workouts. “For a guy like Leighton Finley, when he’s out on the mound — that’s the fun time. No one gets to see the work he puts in before and after that.”
“Pitchers that throw at a high level, have a high-level process,” he said. “When you see them throw on Friday, you’re not seeing what they do on Saturday through Thursday. The real work is when they’re not throwing.”
Stricklin said running, working in the weight room and doing a throwing program is critical for pitchers. He cited Roger Clemens as an example of a pitcher who put in a tremendous amount of work.
“Roger Clemens was notorious for working so hard in between his starts,” he said.
The main problem is the rotator cuff. The part of the arm that moves the arm around in circles. The rotator cuff is the main injury that pitchers get. Pitchers are always moving in that unnatural motion that the arm is not meant to move in and hurt their arms.
“The risk of injury is always going to be there when you’re doing something at a high level,” Stricklin said. “When injuries happen, you have to do everything you can do overcome it.”
The rotator cuff is the main part of the arm for baseball pitchers. There are people as young and even younger than 14 that have to have surgery because they go over their limits. Some experts hold firm to keeping pitchers under a certain pitch count to avoid injury. However, former Georgia third base coach Scott Daeley doesn’t think limiting pitch counts is necessarily the answer.
“As far as pitch counts, everyone is a unique individual,” Daeley said. “I’ve seen a number of pitchers that come through the SEC where coaches have extended them to 130, 135 pitches who haven’t gotten hurt, whereas pitchers on a pitch count of 80 have gotten hurt.”
Regardless of the athlete’s size or the speed of their pitches, training is the most critical factor for avoiding injury. Daeley agreed with Stricklin that maintaining a good workout regime is the key to staying healthy — pitch counts and rest are secondary. “I don’t think anybody really has the formula of what number of pitches or how much rest will or won’t get someone hurt,” he said.
Didn’t you hear? Exceptional is the new average. Students taking advanced placement classes are no longer ahead, and a 4.0 gpa is the norm. It takes more than rigorous academics to be considered a good student.
“You get the highest GPA, you do everything, all the clubs, you get all the grades, you talk to teachers, you get letters of recommendations for all you go to all the different clubs, you do all these extracurricular activities,” Said Jaydon Jones, rising Senior at Durham School of The Arts in Durham, North Carolina.
With a drop in college acceptance rates, and a rise in academically outstanding students, the pressure is on for teens to go above and beyond in every aspect of their school careers. There are a lot of public universities that have become increasingly selective, most of them favoring only the top 10% of each class.
With such stress inducing statistics, students around the nation have increased their AP courses, some taking as many as eight a year.
“ I don’t want to take something I’m not interested in. But now I’m like, if I had done that, I would have had a higher GPA, even if I wasn’t interested. So it’s weird… There’s definitely pressure to take classes you don’t want to take,” Said Norah Lubeck, a rising junior at Riverside High School in Durham, NC.
Norah Lubeck is one of the many students that go the extra mile and still feels behind in the race. Going into her junior year she is taking eight AP classes and three community college classes. Piling on 11 college level classes just to get a slight leg up. Yet she still feels that because she chose electives of interest in freshman year like photography and psychology instead of AP electives, she’s fallen below her peers.
“ I do have good support, but I also would say it could be better, because, for example, right now, I’m in the house all alone. Pretty much. And I can’t get outside. I can’t go and do things,” Jones said
According to statistics from Mental Health America, more than 4 million high school students experienced a depressive episode in 2022, and over 2.7 million high school students are experiencing severe depressive disorders. Balancing a social life, impressive academics, outside achievements, and sports, while experiencing hormonal imbalance is a lethal combination, and yet, it’s the expectation.
“People say, ‘ Oh, you don’t need to take APs. Oh, you do. Or like, Oh, you should follow your interests.’ And then some people are like, ‘Oh, you need to have a specific track’. But if it’s not AP, it doesn’t matter.’ Lubeck said. “ People are just saying so many conflicting things that it confuses you on what you need to be doing. And I think that distracts from what you want to be doing, which I think is the most important thing.”
It’s a familiar peril among almost every student to feel deterred from their passions because they move all their energy into doing anything they can to make themselves stand out to colleges.
“Thinking forward, I want to go to college, and I have no idea if what I have right now is good enough to get me into a college I want to go into, especially compared to people who may be at the top of the class.” Lubeck said.
A large contributor to the weight burdening students is the ambiguity of what colleges are looking for. It’s often drilled into young minds that you need to be ahead in STEM courses, participating in at least one sport, earning some sort of leadership spot and volunteering, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. But depending on the college some may not accept certain AP credits, and being in too many extracurriculars can be seen as noncommittal.
“The pressure comes from all sides, and you have no idea if what you’re doing is enough. And you just gotta keep doing more even if it’s brainless work.” Lubeck said.
When the CEO of Chipotle, Brian Nicoll, came out and made a video contradicting Chipotle naysayers, most people didn’t know what to think.
“We always want to give people big portions that get them excited about the food,” he said.
There were trends of people holding up their phone and recording their order, and walking out mid- order if they felt they didn’t get enough food., TikToks also showed people testing the portion difference when ordering food in person versus online pickup. Nicoll said in his video that if you wanted more food, all you had to do was give the employee a little head nod. Many were skeptical and continued to do what they had been doing.
The saga started when Keith Lee, a popular food critic called out Chipotle for serving sizes in a Tiktok video. He complained about his portion of chicken and the quality of food in the rest of the bowl. That prompted many others to come out and call out Chipotle as well and started a revolution.
A few weeks after Lee’s video, a rumor was swirling that if you recorded Chipotle while they made your order, they would give you more food. People flocked to the restaurant to try it and some went to extreme measures to be funny. One man brought in a whole camera crew to stand behind him while he ordered. Some Chipotles eventually started telling people they could not record. They said it was disrespectful to the employees.
Next, people started the walk-out trend. People would leave the restaurant and force Chipotle to throw out the food if they felt they weren’t receiving enough food. This became a viral trend on TikTok, setting the Chipotle revolution in full force. People were unwilling to fork over their money if Chipotle was unwilling to fork over better portions.
Many teenagers had opinions on the portion sizes that contradicted those of adults. Devin Wang, a rising senior from Huntington Beach, California said depending on who he’s with will dictate whether or not he pays. He goes to Chipotle about once a week and likes the restaurant.
“I’m a little disappointed with the protein portions,” he said., “But they’re just trying not to get fired.”
Rising high school freshman Amari Hines of Lawrenceville, Georgia calls himself a “Chipotlean.” He said he goes 3-4 times a week.
“I think they’re pretty consistent with the meat,” he said.
Chipotle will continue to be under heavy scrutiny until they find a solution customers don’t complain about. Some have suggested they get measuring cups so the portions are the same every single time. Regardless, Chipotle continues to make a large profit and continues to run a very successful business. Nicoll feels they are doing a great job.
“Our goal is to get people really excited about what I believe is really delicious food.”
“We have to be visible, we should not be ashamed of who we are,” said Sylvia Rivera, a prominent gay rights activist and leader of protests and Stonewall, about pride.
While said 22 years ago, it is still felt by many. Another reason why many feel they should not be ashamed is because they believe that their sexuality is not a choice. This is very similar to how ethnicity is not one’s choice, and we as a society know it is wrong to disregard or hate someone because of something they cannot control. However, this is not the case for many in the LGBTQIA+ community. Yet, businesses can help overcome these discriminations they face by simply being welcoming.
“I think it’s imperative, it’s more than important, I think it’s necessary,” said Jo Thomas Wilson, a small business owner and operator of My Heart Salon in Athens, Georgia.
WIlson believes it is necessary for businesses to be welcoming, especially towards those of the LGBTQIA+ community. The reason why is that Wilson, as a queer business owner, feels that it is integral for those of the gay community to want to feel loved and welcomed, and that welcoming and loving members of that community pays off.
“The LGBTQIA+ community is willing to spend it [money] in places that see and support them… if you don’t want to support me then I think you don’t want my money, I’m gonna spend it somewhere else,” said Wilson.
Another reason why Thompson believes it is necessary to support the community is because of monetary opportunities. He said that if the community feels it is not welcome, they will not spend their money in that place, and from a business perspective, it is an avoidable loss of profits.
But, for those who are looking to support the LGBTQIA+ community, Wilson has advice.
“They could hire people like myself to help facilitate these kinds of conversations considering I have a lot of experience, when we hire people who have lived through experience, that’s when we learn the most,” says Wilson.
Wilson, who believes that in order to be truly welcoming, said it is necessary for the company to be willing to hire those who identify as LGBTQIA+. The reason being that with members of the community on your staff, you learn and develop as a business from them. The personal experiences they bring helps provide insight into how to be welcoming to others in their community, making the overall environment a much healthier space. However, the inclusivity and support should not stop there.
“We ask them for their pronouns, we also ask if they have any sensory issues so we can accommodate for that. We have a form with every booking that offers help to get inside for those with physical disabilities and we donate to personal and organizational causes,” said Wilson.
Wilson believes that there are many other methods companies can use to be welcoming, and he listed a few methods his company uses. While some of these methods might not be applicable for every business, there are some methods that can be used for nearly every business. Simple practices like asking for pronouns and helping those with disabilities inside is something any business can do, and while it may be a small act, it will be greatly appreciated by many.
Being welcoming pays off, literally. Businesses can also make efforts to be welcoming by hanging a pride flag or advertising as LGBTQIA+ friendly. This is something that My Heart Salon does, and it is a big step for businesses who have not done so before.
I grew up in a conservative Christian environment, being taught that women should be submissive and obedient, being taught that gay people were wrong, and guns are OK but abortion is not. This is exactly what caused me to run away from Christianity. The hatred spread from a loving religion seemed hypocritical, especially considering that God is supposed to see every sin as equal, meaning that if one thinks being gay is a sin, then the gay person is just as bad as one single lie told. However, I eventually realized that right-wing politics is what is causing so many to run away from the church.
Another factor for me, and many others in my generation, is the obsession with Donald Trump. The former reality star lost many of us when it was uncovered that he said, “Grab ‘em by the pussy,” when referring to women.
Many people have taken issue with this, and rightfully so. The former President clearly made a sexist statement, even if some argue it was taken “out of context,”although I’m not sure how this could be taken in context. Regardless, many young people have disdain towards Donald Trump over his racist tendencies, many sexual assault accusations, 34 felony counts, sexism, xenophobia and many of his other qualities that seemingly contradict everything Jesus Christ stood for. However, many right-wing voters — including conservative “Christians” — adore him.
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Green even went so far as to compare Trump to Jesus. “President Trump is a convicted felon. Well, you want to know something? The man that I worship is also a convicted felon. And he was murdered on a Roman cross.”
It is crucial to remember that being arrested does not make you a hero. Several Nazis have been previously arrested, and everyone knows they were far from heroes. Aside from this logical inaccuracy, many believe that the Bible is pro-life in the same context of pro-life right wing voters. The Bible is used too often to justify the wrong issue, and to oppress groups who have been oppressed for far too long. This leads young people to back away from religion due to the conservative aura that clouds it. Many young people see the MAGA Republicans purchasing Trump’s Bible(which was totally blasphemous), and decide they want absolutely no part in it, and who can blame them? The idea that Trump is some sort of Jesus in the flesh, being waved in front of Gen Z’s faces, makes many opt out of religion, when in reality, many of Trump’s positions are in stark contrast to what Jesus stood for. However, just as in the past, today’s extreme conservatives use the Bible as a weapon.
“I think that they’ll use religion to justify the bad things they’ve done, like with slavery like they would tell the people they were capturing that it’s because of the Bible, and they make it an evil thing but it’s not supposed to be,” a classmate told me.
Just as slavery was a core issue for conservative voters two centuries ago, right-wing candidates are honing in on issues of race, gender and sexuality. My generation has been known to be extremely open minded to those topics, causing them to veer away from the close-mindedness that characterizes many Conservative beliefs. Dr. Joe Dennis, a college professor at Piedmont University and Methodist Sunday School teacher, said he notices that young Christians are not aligned politically with older Christians.
“In my experience young people really don’t care about issues like race, gender, sexuality, they’re more concerned with the content of people’s character,” he said.
Another contentious issue is abortion. While being “pro-life” stands as a core issue among conservative Christians, Gen Z largely disagrees. Interestingly, Judaism sides with Gen Z.
New technology and innovations are made each day and some become beneficial to the world and some don’t. ChatGPT is an AI tool used to assist humans and it was made on November 30, 2022 by OpenAI. With the creation of ChatGPT, more and more people began to use and rely on AI. Whether it was answering a simple question, writing a school paper or writing a paper for work. Although it was beneficial to some people, it’s deeply affecting my future and fellow journalists in many ways.
One of the main issues is that people claim the work of AI or ChatGPT as their own. As mentioned in Mashable, literary magazines, such as Clarkesworld, have been having issues regarding ChatGPT. When they were accepting submissions, they noticed that forms of AI were used to write literary pieces, which limits the creativity of the writer. I have noticed that when writers use ChatGPT, their work becomes boring and has no creative features, hence a robot is writing it.
“What’s so important about journalism is following our journalism ethics and making sure things are factual and accurate,” said Kayla Renie, Newsroom Adviser of The Red & Black. “And when ChatGPT makes those mistakes, it puts a bad tone on journalists. So, I think as a whole, it could be confusing. Did a real person write this, did a journalist write this, did a member of my community write this, or was this a computer compiling all this information.”
Photo Credits: Freddy Kearney
Fellow people have similar thoughts as myself, and it’s not limited to just journalists. Rodolfo Delgado wrote in Forbes, ‘As writers, our distinct voices and authenticity are what draw people in. Reflect upon the individuals you follow or enjoy reading about. More often than not, you’re drawn to them because you resonate with their thoughts, their persona. As a writer, if you heavily rely on AI to improve your grammar or refine your ideas, you risk losing yourself in the process. Consequently, you stand to lose your readers and followers.’
Therefore, when writers use ChatGPT work as their own, it looks bad on them and makes them look lazy and untalented. “Journalists are speaking for what’s taking place, so that our readers can be educated and connect, and AI doesn’t do that, it takes images from anywhere and creates images and things that are not unfolding in front of you; it’s literally the opposite of photojournalism,” Renie said. “We need real people to document because a computer can’t do that with emotion, with honesty and connection to educate, it’s just created from the void.”
A potential fear that occurs in the journalism industry due to the creation and use of AI is if it will eventually take the jobs of journalists. AI continues to “improve” every time it’s used and if it keeps getting smarter, there’s a chance it could be able to destroy the journalism industry. As a future journalist, I don’t want ChatGPT and other AI tools to take my career away because I believe it would be unfair and human writers are better as a whole than robot writers. Thankfully other journalists have the same fear as myself that AI is out for their jobs.
“Journalism will always have an importance and matter,” said Renie. “You can’t set aside the value of face to face journalists, journalists being members of the community, and getting your information from a real person, somebody who’s trustworthy. I think where AI could infringe on journalists’ jobs would be copy editing or doing quick pieces.”
Many people including myself believe that forms of AI, such as ChatGPT, are negatively affecting the journalism industry as a whole, limiting the critical thinking skills and creativity of writers and taking over their careers. And for everyone else, AI causes dependency, which will cause people to lose their sense of creativity.
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