Czech Republic: Media start-up Okraj.cz develop its own code of conduct for AI
Most journalists use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to improve their work and manage their workload. Okraj.cz, a group of three passionate, young journalists from Ostrava, Czech Republic, are no exception. Thanks to funding and mentorship from the Local Media for Democracy (LM4D) project, the media startup developed its own code of conduct for AI to generate illustrations for their articles, but within reason.
The three journalists come from different journalistic backgrounds. Jan Žabka worked in Prague looking into disinformation and digital chaos, Simona Janikova has experience in a range of topics, including local businesses, human stories and environment, and Klara Filipova has a background in public broadcast and data journalism.
“There was no independent media in our region, and that’s where I wanted to work,” explains Simona. “There aren’t any trustworthy local outlets because of economic reasons or a lack of independence. So last year, we got together and decided to launch Okraj.cz. We discovered the LM4D grant thanks to the Syndikat Novinaru Ceske Republiky.” The Syndikat is a member of EFJ and has been active in promoting the project among local journalists.
Okraj.cz experiments with AI and sometimes uses the image generator DALL-E for the visuals of their articles. The start was optimistic and they received good feedback. But gradually the illustrations started to look the same since Ostrava is an industrial city and AI likes to work with generally known facts. They switched strategy and now more frequently cooperate with local photographers and photo banks, as well as occasionally using DALL-E.
“This made us talk about AI,” explains Klara. They added a chapter on AI in their code of conduct and all still use the technology for data visualisations, coding, transcribing interviews and brainstorming ideas for interview questions. “It’s more like an advisor,” explains Jan.
“Okraj experiments with AI to generate illustrations, but they also go beyond. It is a local media startup by a team of three journalists with successful careers in national and regional media. Their startup immediately caught the attention of the local public and the first investigative article attracted over 1,000 views in just one week!” said Iryna Vidanava, media business viability expert at IMS and publisher of Citydog.io.
They also organise media literacy campaigns for younger and older audiences. This topic is mostly covered in Prague or other big cities in the Czech Republic, despite very low trust in the media. The 2023 Media Pluralism Monitor found that the youth’s trust in the media is declining in the country and few believe that independent media is necessary for a well-functioning democracy.
The research on the Czech Republic by the Centre of Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) for this project shows a steady decrease in the number of local newspapers, without a corresponding rise in online local media.
In the Czech Republic, independent print media outside major cities are exceptions, often facing financial struggles. This young team is keen to innovate, and the buck does not stop at experimenting with AI. In the coming weeks, they will each go to a different remote location in the region to collect stories. For them, this is the foundation of journalism and their raison d’etre of connecting personally with their local audience and building trust.
The Local Media for Democracy project is an 18-month project co-funded by the European Commission and launched by a consortium of partners: the Journalismfund Europe, the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF), International Media Support (IMS), and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).
