AI as a Tool for Fair Journalism: Case Studies from Malta

TL;DR

This paper presents two innovative AI-based tools in Malta's media sector for detecting biases in news articles and TV segments, aiming to enhance journalistic integrity and public trust.

Contribution

It introduces novel AI applications for bias detection in media, focusing on coherence analysis and on-screen exposure tracking, with practical tools for journalists.

Findings

AI tools effectively identify bias in news content

Media monitoring improves transparency and trustworthiness

Case studies demonstrate practical application in Malta

Abstract

In today`s media landscape, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in shaping societal perspectives and journalistic integrity is becoming increasingly apparent. This paper presents two case studies centred on Malta`s media market featuring technical novelty. Despite its relatively small scale, Malta offers invaluable insights applicable to both similar and broader media contexts. These two projects focus on media monitoring and present tools designed to analyse potential biases in news articles and television news segments. The first project uses Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing techniques to analyse the coherence between images in news articles and their corresponding captions, headlines, and article bodies. The second project employs computer vision techniques to track individuals` on-screen time or visual exposure in news videos, providing queryable data. These initiatives aim to contribute to society by providing both journalists and the public with the means to identify biases. Furthermore, we make these tools accessible to journalists to improve the trustworthiness of media outlets by offering robust tools for detecting and reducing bias.