A Newspaper Is Allegedly Slapping People’s Names on AI Stories Without Their Permission

McClatchy Media, a major newspaper chain, is implementing a new AI system called the 'content scaling agent' (CSA), built on Anthropic's Claude technology. According to a report by TheWrap, this tool automatically generates condensed summaries of longer articles and is being deployed across McClatchy's family of publications, which includes the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, and Kansas City Star. The core controversy lies in the byline attribution: the AI-generated summaries are being published with journalists' names attached, even in cases where the reporters had little to no involvement in the AI's output. Internal company statements describe the CSA as a 'writing partner' that handles 'mechanical work,' but the practice of forced bylines has sparked significant internal conflict.

The rollout has triggered formal grievances from unions at several McClatchy papers, who allege the company violated contract clauses mandating union notification before implementing 'major technological change.' Reporting indicates a patchwork of byline policies: non-union papers use formats like 'Reporting by [Journalist]. Produced with AI assistance,' while unionized outlets like the Sacramento Bee omit the author entirely, using 'Edited by [Editor]. Story produced with AI assistance.' At a staff meeting, McClatchy's chief of staff for local news, Kathy Vetter, reportedly stated that if a journalist's contract doesn't explicitly allow them to remove their byline, the company will use their name. This stance has intensified debates over authorship, consent, and the ethical integration of AI in newsrooms, positioning McClatchy's implementation as a contentious case study in the industry's rushed adoption of generative AI tools.