A Matter of Mindset? Features and Processes of Newsroom-based Corporate Communication in Times of Artificial Intelligence

TL;DR

This paper explores how corporate newsrooms in large Swiss companies adapt to AI, balancing stability and innovation, and highlights the need for regulation and strategic management of AI tools.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into the transformation of corporate newsrooms by AI, emphasizing organizational coordination and practical challenges.

Findings

Newsrooms serve as coordination bodies for agile communication

AI is used for routine tasks and innovative applications

Urgent need for AI regulation in corporate communication

Abstract

Many companies adopt the corporate newsroom model to streamline their corporate communication. This article addresses why and how corporate newsrooms transform corporate communication following the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. It draws on original data from 13 semi-structured interviews with executive communication experts in large Swiss companies which use corporate newsrooms. Interviews show that corporate newsrooms serve as an organisational (rather than spatial) coordination body for topic-oriented and agile corporate communication. To enable their functionality, it is crucial to find the right balance between optimising and stabilising communication structures. Newsrooms actively adopt AI both to facilitate routine tasks and enable more innovative applications, such as living data archives and channel translations. Interviews also highlight an urgent need for AI regulation for corporate communication. The article's findings provide important insights into the practical challenges and coping strategies for establishing and managing corporate newsrooms and how newsrooms can be transformed by AI.