Rethinking journalism in the era of algorithms: Fairness, ethics, and the European regulatory framework

Theodora Saridou
Proceedings of Fifth European Conference on Algorithmic Fairness, PMLR 350:240-246, 2026.

Abstract

As the adoption of AI in journalism is transitioning from basic automation toward autonomous decision-making, newsroom tasks are transformed, while traditional ethical and regulatory frameworks are challenged. News visibility is significantly mediated by algorithmic systems, necessitating a proactive approach to embed core journalistic values into automated editorial practices. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for journalism based on the dimensions of visibility, pluralism, and editorial autonomy as integral parts of algorithmic fairness. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the framework is structured on ethical impact assessment, technical evaluation, regulation compliance, and editorial oversight. It includes assessment of algorithmic impact on journalism before deployment, translation of the journalistic values into system constraints, and evaluation of algorithmic bias in news representation. It also ensures compliance with EU regulations like the AI Act, DSA, EMFA, and GDPR, while maintaining continuous human oversight to protect editorial independence and freedom of expression.

Cite this Paper

BibTeX
@InProceedings{pmlr-v350-saridou26a, title = {Rethinking journalism in the era of algorithms: Fairness, ethics, and the European regulatory framework}, author = {Saridou, Theodora}, booktitle = {Proceedings of Fifth European Conference on Algorithmic Fairness}, pages = {240--246}, year = {2026}, editor = {De Bie, Tijl and Defrance, MaryBeth and Calders, Toon and Nguyen, Dennis}, volume = {350}, series = {Proceedings of Machine Learning Research}, month = {02--04 Sep}, publisher = {PMLR}, pdf = {https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mlresearch/v350/main/assets/saridou26a/saridou26a.pdf}, url = {https://proceedings.mlr.press/v350/saridou26a.html}, abstract = {As the adoption of AI in journalism is transitioning from basic automation toward autonomous decision-making, newsroom tasks are transformed, while traditional ethical and regulatory frameworks are challenged. News visibility is significantly mediated by algorithmic systems, necessitating a proactive approach to embed core journalistic values into automated editorial practices. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for journalism based on the dimensions of visibility, pluralism, and editorial autonomy as integral parts of algorithmic fairness. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the framework is structured on ethical impact assessment, technical evaluation, regulation compliance, and editorial oversight. It includes assessment of algorithmic impact on journalism before deployment, translation of the journalistic values into system constraints, and evaluation of algorithmic bias in news representation. It also ensures compliance with EU regulations like the AI Act, DSA, EMFA, and GDPR, while maintaining continuous human oversight to protect editorial independence and freedom of expression.} }
Endnote
%0 Conference Paper %T Rethinking journalism in the era of algorithms: Fairness, ethics, and the European regulatory framework %A Theodora Saridou %B Proceedings of Fifth European Conference on Algorithmic Fairness %C Proceedings of Machine Learning Research %D 2026 %E Tijl De Bie %E MaryBeth Defrance %E Toon Calders %E Dennis Nguyen %F pmlr-v350-saridou26a %I PMLR %P 240--246 %U https://proceedings.mlr.press/v350/saridou26a.html %V 350 %X As the adoption of AI in journalism is transitioning from basic automation toward autonomous decision-making, newsroom tasks are transformed, while traditional ethical and regulatory frameworks are challenged. News visibility is significantly mediated by algorithmic systems, necessitating a proactive approach to embed core journalistic values into automated editorial practices. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for journalism based on the dimensions of visibility, pluralism, and editorial autonomy as integral parts of algorithmic fairness. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the framework is structured on ethical impact assessment, technical evaluation, regulation compliance, and editorial oversight. It includes assessment of algorithmic impact on journalism before deployment, translation of the journalistic values into system constraints, and evaluation of algorithmic bias in news representation. It also ensures compliance with EU regulations like the AI Act, DSA, EMFA, and GDPR, while maintaining continuous human oversight to protect editorial independence and freedom of expression.
APA
Saridou, T.. (2026). Rethinking journalism in the era of algorithms: Fairness, ethics, and the European regulatory framework. Proceedings of Fifth European Conference on Algorithmic Fairness, in Proceedings of Machine Learning Research 350:240-246 Available from https://proceedings.mlr.press/v350/saridou26a.html.

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