What new roles will AI create in the newsroom & how can students & educators adapt? 

Generative AI is already transforming journalism. Whether it’s automating captioning, translating articles or videos to increase reach or even powering large-scale data discovery and analysis, newsrooms are using AI to make incredible efficiency gains.

But the technology still has clear limitations. LLMs are notorious for fabricating facts, cannot verify sources, and produces writing that often reads as shallow or generic. That’s why many newsrooms are taking a hybrid approach: pairing skilled journalists with AI tools to enhance, rather than replace, editorial work.

Now, a growing number of outlets are going a step further, creating entirely new roles dedicated to integrating AI without compromising journalistic standards. These positions are shaping the future of the newsroom. But they also raise important questions.

What do these new roles look like? What skills will the next generation of journalists need to succeed? And are there traditional skills that might become less essential in an AI-assisted media landscape?

Trint, the AI transcription platform, recently hosted a webinar to tackle some of these questions. Featuring expertise from Rob Lang — Thomson Reuters’ first dedicated AI Editor — the students and educators can prepare for what’s next.

AI newsroom roles are already here

AI roles in journalism aren’t some distant possibility — they’re already here.

In June 2025, Thomson Reuters appointed its first Newsroom AI Editor, Rob Lang. With 30 years of industry experience behind him, Lang is responsible for integrating experimental AI tools into newsroom workflows while safeguarding the highest editorial standards.

During the Trint webinar, Lang explained that he sees his role as being a ‘bridge’ between journalism and AI technology — two things which have often been segregated in traditional newsrooms.

Lang said: “Ask most newsroom teams and they’ll likely suggest that journalists and technology teams have traditionally operated in separate silos. And that needs to change.

‍“What’s really important — and what I’m really going to be focusing on in my role — is making sure that journalists and developers are no longer separated.”

So, what new roles will AI create?

AI Newsroom Editors

Lang’s role is a novel one, but he predicts that he won’t be alone for very long. “Most organizations are going to need someone to look after (AI) to make sure that the right tools are being used,” Lang explained.

While AI excels at automating tasks, it still requires human oversight and creativity to deliver high-quality results. That’s where AI Newsroom Editors come in — a role Lang believes will soon become essential across the industry.

In the future, Lang predicts that AI Newsroom Editors will combine journalistic skills with AI tools to create bespoke solutions to the challenges that newsrooms face. Responsibilities may include refining AI prompts, leading internal AI training, and developing best practices to ensure quality, ethics and editorial integrity.

News organizations will be looking for professionals who can turn experimental AI tools into production-ready solutions, without compromising a publication’s standards or reputation.

As Lang says: “My role is largely to represent technology to editorial, and to represent editorial to technology.” Successful AI editors will need to have a foot in both worlds.

Newsroom Prompt Engineers — or ‘Hack Scribes’?

According to Lang, another emerging role is that of the Newsroom Prompt Engineer or Prompt Editor — a hybrid position combining editorial expertise with the technical skills to guide generative AI models effectively.

I really do see one of the roles of the future — and I’m still trying to think of the name of the journalist coder — but the best one I’ve come up with so far is ‘hack scribe’”, says Lang.

These professionals would design complex, precise prompts to shape AI output. They’d also need the journalistic skill to fact-check, edit and improve any work produced by AI.

Though prompt engineering and newswriting may seem like separate disciplines, Lang argues they’re fundamentally similar.

“I think they’re actually very similar skills,” Lang says. “It’s about being able to write very clearly and very specifically … so it’s about understanding the task in hand and describing it accurately, which is very similar to reporting”.

How schools & students can adapt

As generative AI reshapes newsroom tasks and roles, the challenge isn’t just reskilling current journalists. It’s also preparing the next generation to thrive in AI-powered newsrooms from day one.

During the webinar, Rob Lang and the Trint team shared several predictions for how journalism education may need to evolve in response.

1. Traditional exams will replace coursework 

As AI tools become more capable and accessible, it’s becoming harder for educators to judge whether students are producing their own original work. As a result, we could see a return to ‘cheat-proof’ forms of assessment, like invigilated exams, oral tests and viva voce assessments.

“I think the nature of education is going to have to change,” says Lang. “We’re probably going to have to go back to largely assessing students on examination and oral tests rather than on coursework.”

2. Including Gen AI in curricula 

Courses that help students understand and apply AI in the newsroom could become a core part of the curriculum. Courses might teach students different use cases for AI in media, along with ethical decision-making when using AI.

Lang believes that today’s students are already well-positioned for this shift: “The younger generation are more digitally native and understand AI. So anyone coming out of grad school now … are going to have a much better understanding of what it can achieve and what it can do”.

3. Hands-on training with AI tools

Theoretical learning alone won’t cut it. Journalism programs will need to provide hands-on experience with real AI tools in a media production context — from transcription and translation platforms to prompt-based content generation and data analysis.

Colleges or universities offer a ‘safe’, low-risk environment where students can experiment with AI, encouraging innovation without fear of failure. This kind of training could give rise to a wave of newsroom-ready AI natives who drive change from within when they enter the workforce.

4. Critical thinking 

Despite AI’s promising capabilities, one skill will always be irreplaceable: critical thinking.

“There probably is a danger that people will think ‘well I don’t have to think now because the AI will do it for me'” says Lang. 

In an age where credible-sounding reports and stories can be generated at the touch of a button, the ability to think critically will matter more than ever. Learning to assess credibility, validate sources and recognise bias should remain at the heart of any journalism or media syllabus.