Learning to report with AI: Journalism students’ professional identity and boundary work in the age of generative tools

Wenrui Liang, Hui Shen, Naixin Hou, Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University, Wales College, Lanzhou University

Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism

Published online on June 03, 2026

Abstract

Journalism, Ahead of Print.
This article examines how journalism students in China learn to report with generative AI tools while trying to uphold core journalistic values. It asks how students describe AI in relation to what they see as central journalistic values and how they draw ...