It’s disappointing to see AI-generated images used with your stories. These tools were trained on the work of real artists, often without their consent, which raises serious ethical concerns. I hope you’ll reconsider continuing this practice.
Hi Chris, I appreciate the comment and I'd love to be able to afford to pay an artist. I know supporting local art is an issue near and dear to your heart. However, we're currently in the middle of a drive to pay basic operating expenses — insurance, accounting, mileage. Unlike the good people employed at the Ukiah Daily Journal, our staff is working for free out of necessity. We cover stories that matter to our community in greater depth than the Journal, which as you know, is owned by the Media News Group, based in Colorado. There is a limited amount of local money available to sustain local journalism. How much is the Media News taking from the common pot? Would you be willing to disclose that? We are a nonprofit and our books are open. We've also offered to do a distribution deal with the Media News papers. That would help cover operating costs and it would provide greater access to local news. I'm still waiting for your editor to get back to me.
Working for free should not be equated with lower ethical standards. There are many free stock sites where you can find images that artists have granted you permission to use.
Frankly I see a much larger ethical issue in the a legacy newspaper that claims to cover local news and doesn't (or does at the most minimum level possible). I disclose my operating costs and revenues. If Media News did the same for the operations + staff salaries and benefits for its local masthead papers, we could come up a for a plan to cover news cost-effectively.
It’s disappointing to see AI-generated images used with your stories. These tools were trained on the work of real artists, often without their consent, which raises serious ethical concerns. I hope you’ll reconsider continuing this practice.
Hi Chris, I appreciate the comment and I'd love to be able to afford to pay an artist. I know supporting local art is an issue near and dear to your heart. However, we're currently in the middle of a drive to pay basic operating expenses — insurance, accounting, mileage. Unlike the good people employed at the Ukiah Daily Journal, our staff is working for free out of necessity. We cover stories that matter to our community in greater depth than the Journal, which as you know, is owned by the Media News Group, based in Colorado. There is a limited amount of local money available to sustain local journalism. How much is the Media News taking from the common pot? Would you be willing to disclose that? We are a nonprofit and our books are open. We've also offered to do a distribution deal with the Media News papers. That would help cover operating costs and it would provide greater access to local news. I'm still waiting for your editor to get back to me.
Working for free should not be equated with lower ethical standards. There are many free stock sites where you can find images that artists have granted you permission to use.
Frankly I see a much larger ethical issue in the a legacy newspaper that claims to cover local news and doesn't (or does at the most minimum level possible). I disclose my operating costs and revenues. If Media News did the same for the operations + staff salaries and benefits for its local masthead papers, we could come up a for a plan to cover news cost-effectively.
Also, for the record, this particular image was trained on the work of a photographer who granted consent.