Teaching journalists to use AI without losing critical thinking

A tech-forward journalism professor unpacks how AI is changing how he teaches reporting and what it means for the entry-level jobs that are increasingly endangered.  AI is not just changing how journalism gets made. It is changing how journalism gets taught.In this episode of The Media Copilot, host Pete Pachal sits down with Kris Hodgson-Bright, professor of digital communications and media at Lethbridge Polytechnic in Alberta, Canada, to unpack what happens when AI enters the newsroom and the classroom at the same time.Kris has seen journalism education evolve from high-volume print production to an online first, multi-platform workflow spanning campus news, radio, TV, and emerging formats. Now, he is putting AI directly into the curriculum, not as a shortcut for writing, but as a research assistant that can strengthen reporting, sharpen critical thinking, and help students confront one of the biggest challenges in modern media: bias and trust.Pete and Kris explore where AI fits in journalism training, where it doesn’t, and why transparent guardrails matter. They also dig into the job market reality for new journalists and communicators, plus the promise of immersive storytelling, including 360-degree video, VR, and photogrammetry, as a way to deepen understanding and empathy.Along the way, the conversation surfaces some of the most difficult questions facing the media right now: how much automation is too much, where responsibility still sits with the human journalist, and how educators can prepare students for an industry that is evolving faster than any syllabus. This is a grounded conversation about the future of media work: hopeful about what AI can enhance, and clear-eyed about the slippery slope toward low quality content and atrophied thinking.Why this mattersAs AI becomes embedded in every part of media, the next generation of journalists and communicators will be judged on more than writing skills. They will be judged on judgment: bias awareness, ethical decision-making, transparency, and the ability to use tools without surrendering the work of thinking.What we coverHow journalism education shifted from print heavy production to online-first publishingThe right way to integrate AI into student workflows without outsourcing the writingUsing AI to check for bias and improve historical context in local reportingWhat transparency and disclosure should look like in AI-assisted mediaMedia law, ethics, privacy, and how to teach responsible AI useWhy the journalism job market is harder and what students can do to stand outImmersive journalism, empathy, and what VR still gets right even without mass adoptionKris’s hopes and fears about AI’s long-term impact on media👤 Guest🔗Kris Hodgson-Bright | Lethbridge Polytechnic🔗Kris Hodgson-Bright (@hodgsonkr) / Posts / X🔗krishodgsonbright/LinkedIN To explore more conversations like this and see what’s new, visit the freshly updated Media Copilot website at mediacopilot.ai. You’ll find new episodes, expanded resources, and tools designed for journalists, communicators, and media leaders navigating the fast-changing world of AI. It’s the home base for everything Media Copilot and it’s just getting started.Enjoyed this episode?Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel. For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.aiProduced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele MussoEdited by the Musso Media Team Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0All rights reserved. © AnyWho Media 2025