Generative AI in Print Journalism: Promise and Pitfalls

Kate Decker

Aug 1, 2025

Headquarters for the 138th National Newspaper Association Foundation Convention is the Hilton Minneapolis. Make reservations online or call reservations at 1-800-445-8667 and mention National Newspaper Association Foundation. Discounted room rates of $209/night are available for stays Oct. 8-12. Book by Sept. 17, 2025.
Lewter

Training sessions will address top issues at community newspapers

The convention planning committee is hard at work scheduling training sessions for the upcoming NNA Foundation's Annual Convention & Trade Show in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Oct. 9-10, 2025.

Training sessions will take place on both days in the form of flash sessions — quick, 30-minute, casual roundtables — and breakout sessions — hour-long dives addressed to the full group.

On the Friday, NNA Foundation Director Austin Lewter, instructor of journalism and broadcast at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, will lead a breakout session titled Generative AI in Print Journalism: Promise and Pitfalls, exploring the growing role of generative AI in print journalism — from content creation and workflow automation to ethical dilemmas and editorial risks.

Attendees will gain insight into how AI is reshaping newsroom practices, the challenges it presents to accuracy and accountability and strategies for responsible integration. This will be ideal for editors, reporters and any media professionals navigating the future of news.

Following Lewter's session, Kenny Katzgrau of Broadstreet in Red Bank, New Jersey, will lead us in a modern-day sales pitch: “How to Sell Digital Advertising in 2025” will walk salespeople through common challenges and road-blocks.

This is the 2025 guide to direct digital sales. Street-level strategy to handle a digital sale and get a friction free close and a happy client, whatever their size. No ghosting while maximizing profit margin.

Kenny Katzgrau is the Publisher of RedBankGreen and creator of Broadstreet, a company and ad manager that recently won the Local Media Association’s Best R&D Partner. Once an engineer at Mozilla and Yahoo, he fell into publishing, learned to sell, and took up the torch of helping RedBankGreen, an 18-year-old hyperlocal news outlet, stand for 100 years. He’s here to make sure other publishers stand for 100 years too — and the first step is taking marketing budgets back from Facebook and Google.

Kris Kerzman of Forum Communications Company in Fargo, North Dakota, will lead the breakout session, Can Podcasting Work for Your Newsroom?

Podcasts are all the rage for sports talk and national political commentary, but can they help your newsroom deliver local and regional news? In this seminar, we'll go over some of the pros and cons of podcasting for a small newsroom and look at some low-risk strategies to get a podcast off the ground.

Kerzman is the digital editor/podcast network manager for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, North Dakota. As digital editor for InForum, Kerzman is focused on providing trustworthy information and compelling stories about the Fargo-Moorhead region through the InForum website and other online platforms.

During flash sessions, NNA Postal Chair Matt Paxton, publisher of The News-Gazette, Lexington, Virginia, will lead a circulation table and talk all things Periodicals permits, interpretations of postal rules, how to enter mail properly, steps to possibly improve slow service, etc.

At that same block, attendees will also have the choice of an admin session, You’re Not Their Bank: Reduce A/R and Get Paid Faster. Lisa Pfeifer, Fake Brains Software, Littleton, Colorado, will present.

ARZero, a term introduced by Fake Brains, represents a shift in how publishers approach billing. Imagine a world where unpaid invoices are a thing of the past — no more chasing checks, managing aging A/R, or waiting 30+ days to get paid. With ARZero, you can receive payments in advance or at runtime, securely store payment methods, automate collections and take full control of your cash flow. Credit limits and automated holds help safeguard operations while keeping ad production on track — and even encourage your sales team to treat collections as a seamless part of the sales and service process.

View the full schedule of sessions and register at nnafoundation.org/convention

 

Kate Decker is the managing editor of Publishers' Auxiliary and the associate director of the National Newspaper Association. kate@nna.org.