ASU reporters are paving the future for investigative journalism using AI

Students at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU are incorporating generative AI and ChatGPT into their work in investigative reporting. From data crunching to legal citations, the large language models have become an interactable tool for student journalists making public records requests.

Mark Greenblatt, a professor of practice at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and executive editor at the Howard Center, is overseeing the widespread use of this technology for the first time.

One of the biggest struggles for investigative journalists is to convince government officials or agencies to allow access to public records and information. To solve this, Greenblatt and his students ask ChatGPT to write code that can be given to the agency’s IT department, pulling data sets and records significantly easier and faster for government public relations officials.

Eshaan Sarup, a student in the program, has used this technique to great effect.

What ChatGPT is very good at is giving you a base code to start with,” he said. “It's been really useful for helping me analyze, visualize and merge data.

Greenblatt cited one instance where a response aided by ChatGPT brought down a records request tabbed at over $2,000 to just $40.

For agencies reluctant to disclose information, Greenblatt and his students take ChatGPT a step further – prompting the tool to write a legal argument and cite legal precedent to detail the unlawfulness of withholding information.

“When you see a young reporter who has never fought for a record in their life, and you see them very quickly and very powerfully going up against seasoned lawyers and winning and getting public records, democracy is working better in the Howard Center right here at Arizona State University,” Greenblatt said.

Written by Jake Garcia | Edited by Joycelyn Munoz