The Ethics of Photojournalism

 In today's society, AI has made itself very easily accessible. It has gotten to the point where "the new developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to topple photography's standing as a last bastion of trustworthy reporting." This article covers the uses and abuses of artificial intelligence in sports photojournalism. The main controversy discussed here involves the SportsCenter social media accounts and what they have shared on the internet in the past. A postgame interview video of Damian Lillard—originally taken in 2020 when he was with the Trail Blazers—was uploaded recently and it stirred up quite the number of controversial reactions across social media platforms. SportsCenter did not state that the video was AI-altered to change his jersey and the court behind him from the Trail Blazers to his current team; the Bucks. Fans were immediately upset by the fact that the video was "deepfaked" and there was no mention of the use of AI. This is especially bad considering the fact that ESPN and SportsCenter are generally very commonly trusted forms of journalism that people go to frequently for accurate, realistic news. Many supporters of ESPN and football fans became skeptical and proceeded to question these companies more often after this incident because they had temporarily tarnished their reputation that took so long to build. 

In my opinion, it was extremely unethical of SportsCenter and ESPN to take advantage of their audience that way using AI. I know I would absolutely feel betrayed and disappointed if I were an avid football fan and supporter of them. When I think about what happened in this controversy and how I would have approached the situation differently according to my personal ethics and values, all I can come up with is: don't do it! Just simply do not do it. There was no need to alter a video from the past, knowing that so many people would be able to sniff it out so quickly. As someone who highly values transparency and integrity, if I were a photojournalist I would never even think to alter a video in that type of way. If for some reason the use of AI was absolutely necessary to get my point across, I would make it very clear that the content is not completely authentic and true. 


Original Photo By: Jack Moreland
Image Source


AI-Altered Photo By: Jack Moreland
Image Source

My Ethics Map


Works Cited

WKAR Public Media | By Jack Moreland. “Artificial Intelligence in Sports Photojournalism Leads to Ethical Questions.” WKAR Public Media, 8 Jan. 2024, https://www.wkar.org/wkar-news/2024-01-08/artificial-intelligence-in-sports-photojournalism-leads-to-ethical-questions 

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