This audit measures whether AI tools are replacing your judgement or supporting it. Your answers reveal how much of your investigative instinct and editorial decision-making remains yours alone.
Read the full transcript or listen to the full recording at least once before writing. AI transcription misses tone, silence, and what a source emphasised by their voice.
Keep a list of sources you talk to outside any current story. These relationships are where real news judgement grows. AI cannot replace them.
When you spot a surprising fact, spend time asking sources why it matters before you decide it is news. Accuracy and truth are different things.
Every week, identify one story decision you made based purely on your experience and reporting instinct, not on data or AI suggestions. Build this habit deliberately.
If you cannot explain to another reporter why a story matters right now, it is probably not ready. AI engagement metrics are not the same as newsworthiness.