Inside the Lenfest-OpenAI-Microsoft partnership: One-on-one with Jim Friedlich

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As artificial intelligence sweeps through every sector, from healthcare to finance, journalism is pivotal. The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, in collaboration with OpenAI and Microsoft, has launched a $10 million AI Collaborative and Fellowship program designed to foster innovation, sustainability and new business models across major U.S. metro newsrooms, enabling them to harness the transformative power of AI.

Jim Friedlich, CEO and executive director of the Lenfest Institute, joined E&P Reports to discuss the details and ambitions of this landmark initiative. The first round of fellows will be placed in five prominent newsrooms, including Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Seattle Times, with three more newsrooms expected to join over the coming years.

Embracing AI as a tool for sustainability
For Friedlich, the potential of AI in journalism lies less in replacing reporters and more in sustaining and enhancing the essential functions of a newsroom. “Our point of view is that the technology is neither inherently good nor inherently bad, but it is extraordinarily powerful,” he explained. Recognizing AI’s capabilities, Friedlich emphasized that any organization — whether in news, government, healthcare or sports — has two choices: embrace and leverage the technology or risk being left behind. “Clearly, we’re on the side of embracing it,” he said.

The Fellowship program encourages news organizations to explore AI for a wide range of applications that extend beyond content creation. According to Friedlich, AI can be instrumental in business tasks that are essential for newsroom survival. For instance, AI tools are expected to help optimize subscription models by identifying readers with a high propensity to subscribe, making the subscription journey seamless and tailored — a strategy used by tech giants like Amazon and Netflix.

AI-fueled public data accessibility
One of the most exciting applications for AI lies in unlocking the value of public data. Friedlich noted that, while data on areas like local school rankings, real estate prices and traffic patterns is available, it often remains inaccessible to readers and journalists due to its sheer volume and complexity. In Long Island, Newsday aims to change this by using AI to create a “data vault” of local information. Friedlich explained, “They’re going to point some combination of AI products at this data to make it easily accessible, providing a service to readers, journalists and even local businesses who can benefit from such insights.”

By democratizing access to this data, Newsday envisions a multi-functional AI-powered tool that could answer reader questions, assist journalists with research, and even serve as a revenue-generating marketing service for small businesses. “The idea here,” Friedlich said, “is AI for sustainability in the journalism business rather than AI to replace journalists.”

Reinventing local reporting with AI assistance
Beyond business functions, AI offers possibilities to fill the gaps left by a shrinking local news workforce. During the interview, Friedlich underscored how AI could assist in restoring the once-vibrant local news coverage that characterized newsrooms a few decades ago. “The Philadelphia Inquirer, for example, has a volume of municipalities to cover across a six-county region, each with their own public meetings, videos and records,” he shared. With AI, The Inquirer plans to analyze transcripts and videos from public meetings, flagging keywords and summarizing discussions to surface stories that would otherwise go unreported.

For Friedlich, AI's role is clear: “They plan to use AI as a reporting assist tool, then apply good old-fashioned gumshoe reporting to what AI has flagged as noteworthy.” This approach aims to bring local stories to light more efficiently, enabling The Inquirer to cover a broader range of topics with fewer resources, reflecting a “return to form” for regional journalism.

Scaling the program and expanding the reach

Currently supporting five newsrooms, the Lenfest Fellowship program plans to expand to eight. Friedlich hinted at the potential for even broader scaling, stating, “The choice of the next three has some moving parts. We may see aggregations of newspapers or digital-only sites joining the mix.” According to Friedlich, each new addition to the program increases its impact as participants share their insights with the broader news industry. The collaborative format ensures that lessons learned and tools developed are accessible beyond the individual organizations directly involved.

Friedlich was optimistic but realistic when asked about long-term expansion: “After two years, it’s really a question of funding and the demonstrated impact of the initial fellowships. Whether OpenAI, Microsoft or other partners choose to extend this depends on how well we execute.” He described this program as an opportunity for these media organizations to prove AI’s value for news sustainability and engage more newsrooms in the future.

A call for high standards in AI journalism
As the fellowship program launches, Friedlich acknowledged the responsibility that comes with it. “We’re really just now getting started,” he noted, stressing that the Institute’s goal is to create something “noteworthy” that will resonate with the industry. The Lenfest Institute wants to support only eight organizations directly. However, Friedlich emphasized the broader mission — to inspire industry-wide change by sharing best practices, case studies and code openly with newsrooms everywhere. “We’d like to be held to a high standard,” he said. “We will work with these newsrooms not just to improve their processes but to develop frameworks and applications from which the entire news industry can learn.”

The initiative exemplifies Lenfest’s commitment to what Friedlich calls “positive pressure” — the drive to innovate and collaborate on a level that has meaningful, long-lasting effects. The fellowship underscores Lenfest’s ethos of advancing journalism beyond legacy formats and toward sustainable digital transformation.

Looking ahead: The role of AI in local news
For Friedlich, AI presents a technological revolution and a path to renew and sustain journalism’s future. His message to news publishing executives is clear: “We need to move quickly to understand, evaluate and integrate AI in ways that uphold the values of good journalism.” As Lenfest, OpenAI and Microsoft launch this ambitious program, the focus remains on using AI to elevate journalism and ensure its survival in an era of rapid change.

In a few years, the news industry will look to programs like the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship as indicators of AI’s potential for lasting impact. With technology evolving faster than ever, Friedlich’s words resonate across the industry: “We’re embracing AI to support journalism, not replace it, and we’re committed to ensuring it serves the public good.”