Grupo Globo includes Artificial Intelligence guidelines in its Editorial Principles - Valor International
Grupo Globo announced recently an update to its Editorial Principles to include a specific section on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in journalism. Originally published in 2011, the Editorial Principles document summarizes the values guiding the group’s journalistic production and formalizes the code of conduct for media professionals across Globo’s outlets and brands, including Valor Econômico. This change underscores the group’s priority on seeking innovation and adopting the most advanced technological tools in journalism.
The new section—now the third of four in the document—comprises three chapters and nine items. Its purpose is to clarify the rules for adopting AI throughout the journalistic chain, covering the gathering, production, and distribution of content. The guidelines mandate human supervision to ensure quality without hindering innovation; reinforce a commitment to transparency by disclosing the use of AI in content production; protect copyrights and privacy; and call for periodic reviews to adapt to technological evolutions and ensure practices remain aligned with the Editorial Principles.
Journalists at Grupo Globo are encouraged to adopt AI tools to “produce high-quality information: impartial, accurate, and delivered promptly,” provided certain criteria are met. The first is that the use of AI must always be “supervised by a human, and no content produced with the technology should be published without such supervision.”
This directive does not mean that every piece of automated content must undergo human review. As noted in the document, such a requirement would negate some of the advantages offered by AI, such as increased efficiency in news gathering. This supervision will focus on monitoring the use of AI tools and may vary according to the needs of each outlet and the type of content. Accuracy and quality will be ensured through process supervision and sample readings, among other verification methods.
The role and attributes of media professionals remain unchanged and will be fully preserved. “The final responsibility for the content published … will always lie with the professionals involved,” the document states. Therefore, it is up to journalists to implement strategies to counter potential errors or biases in AI. The text also assigns journalists the task of analyzing the types of information input into AI tools to prevent leaks of data protected by law or the misuse of intellectual property.
Adding the AI section to the Editorial Principles and making it public is part of Globo’s commitment to informing the public about the use of this technology in journalistic content, the document asserts. “From the briefest note to the most extensive report, the technology may be employed, to varying degrees, whenever it contributes to journalistic information being impartial, accurate, and delivered promptly.” When relevant, the use of AI will be highlighted. “In some cases, it will be necessary to specify how artificial intelligence was used in a particular journalistic content. This will be done whenever it helps the public understand the circumstances under which the report was produced.”
Journalists may consider using AI in searching and gathering information, processing large databases, and accessing reliable information banks, among other measures to enhance news gathering. However, the use of the technology is prohibited in writing opinion pieces or editorials. “Opinion and analysis should be reserved for journalists.” Grammatical revisions, factual corrections, and stylistic enhancements are permitted.
The document also highlights the use of AI in generating synthetic audio based on human voices. This is allowed, but only with the express authorization of the voice owner or their legal representatives. The use must be disclosed to the public. The same applies to images generated by artificial intelligence, which must not mislead consumers into thinking they are real images. If the image has hyper-realistic characteristics, the public must be informed that it is a reconstruction or simulation.
Grupo Globo’s newsrooms should use AI to optimize the reach of journalism, the text states. This can be achieved through data analysis on information consumption or by improving circulation strategies, among other purposes. Personalization is one of them. Artificial intelligence enables adapting an article to different forms of information consumption, but all versions must remain faithful to the essence of the original content, according to the document.
The pursuit of innovation and the adoption of the most advanced technological tools for journalism are priorities at the Group (see Section I, Part 3-a). We approach the use of Artificial Intelligence in journalism with this same spirit. The development of various AI branches expands the capacity for processing and generating information (such as texts, videos, audios, infographics, websites, and other content formats) and has significant disruptive potential, but it does not alter the values that guide professional journalism. Grupo Globo adopts artificial intelligence as a means to enhance the quality of journalism, maintaining the commitment to impartiality, accuracy, and agility expressed in this document. Journalists are encouraged to test and adopt AI tools that aid in the processes of gathering, producing, and distributing content, adhering to the guidelines outlined here:
Journalists at Grupo Globo will always adopt artificial intelligence tools as a means to produce high-quality information: impartial, accurate, and delivered promptly.
The use of artificial intelligence must always be supervised by a human, and no content produced with the technology should be published without such supervision. This does not mean that every piece of automated content will undergo human review before publication. Such an obligation would render much of the efficiency and scope provided by the tool ineffective. The accuracy and quality of these contents will be ensured through process supervision, sample readings, and other forms of verification. This does not diminish the journalist’s responsibility in any way: all those involved in producing these contents—as with any article—are responsible for the outcome. Human supervision, therefore, should be understood as monitoring the use of artificial intelligence to ensure the accuracy and impartiality of what is published. This supervision may vary according to the needs of each outlet and content type.
Grupo Globo is committed to informing the public about the use of artificial intelligence in its journalistic content. The publication of this policy is part of this process. Here we inform that journalists at Grupo Globo will consider the use of artificial intelligence at various stages of the journalistic process, whether through proprietary or third-party tools. This indicates that, from a news brief to the most extensive article, the technology may be employed, to varying degrees, whenever it contributes to journalistic information being impartial, accurate, and delivered promptly. In some cases, however, it will be necessary to specify how artificial intelligence was used in particular journalistic content. This will be done whenever it helps the public understand the circumstances under which the text was produced.
Journalists at Grupo Globo should consider using artificial intelligence to optimize the news-gathering process—for example, in searching for and collecting information, processing large volumes of data, and accessing reliable databases (see Section I, Part 2-f). However, the final responsibility for the published content will always lie with the professionals involved, and journalists will adopt strategies to ensure that potential errors and biases produced by artificial intelligence—or any technology used—do not result in errors or biases in journalistic coverage. Additionally, journalists have the responsibility to analyze what types of information are input into AI tools to prevent leaks of confidential information or data protected by current legislation, as well as the use of information that violates intellectual property rights.
Journalists at Grupo Globo will consider using artificial intelligence to optimize the production of stories in their various formats, such as videos, texts, audios, images, infographics, and websites. However, publishing content generated wholly or partially by artificial intelligence can only be done under human supervision, as stated here. Artificial intelligence should not be used to write opinion pieces or editorials. Opinion and analysis should be reserved for journalists, who can provide the necessary context and perspective. Grammatical revisions, factual corrections, and stylistic enhancements are permitted.
The use of artificial intelligence to generate synthetic audios based on human voices is allowed, provided there is express authorization from the voice owner or their legal representatives. This use must be disclosed to the public. Images generated by artificial intelligence must not be produced in a way that they can be mistaken for reality. If the image has characteristics of a real image, the public must be clearly informed that it is a reconstruction or simulation produced by artificial intelligence. AI tools can be used to make minor technical corrections in audios and images to help the public grasp the information contained, without ever altering the reality portrayed.
Grupo Globo’s newsrooms should use artificial intelligence to optimize the reach of journalism. This can be done, for example, through data analysis on information consumption to define the best circulation strategies, by creating different versions of a story to cater to different forms of information consumption, and by using tools that allow greater content personalization. All versions of articles must remain faithful to the essence of the original content, respecting editorial standards of quality and truthfulness.
The use of Artificial Intelligence tools by Grupo Globo must always rigorously observe and respect copyright and intellectual property rights, both concerning third-party content and proprietary materials.
Grupo Globo invests in training its professionals for the effective and ethical use of AI tools. This policy will be periodically reviewed by Grupo Globo’s Editorial Board to adapt to technological evolutions and ensure that practices remain aligned with these principles.
This article was translated from Valor Econômico using an artificial intelligence tool under the supervision of the Valor International editorial team to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to our editorial standards. Read our Editorial Principles.
