Newsrooms: Apply to join two new paid Trusting News initiatives focused on educating the public about AI

Published on July 30, 2025July 31, 2025 by Lynn Walsh | Reading Time: 4 minutes

Our research shows that people want to be educated about AI and that they would welcome that education from journalists. Is your team ready to help your community better understand artificial intelligence and build trust in your journalism while you do it?

Trusting News is currently accepting applications for newsrooms to do just that. Thanks to support from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, we are recruiting newsrooms for TWO research-backed opportunities to educate the public about AI:

1. Trusting News AI Education Cohort. Ten newsrooms will share educational, public-facing content about AI with their news consumers. Participating newsrooms will also attach research to what they share in order to measure what resonates with the public and how it affects their trust in news content and journalists. Newsrooms that are selected and complete the requirements will receive a $2,000 stipend. Find more information and a link to the application here.
2. Trusting News AI Education innovation grants. Have a creative idea for educating your community about AI? Want to host a workshop, build a youth program, partner with local organizations or create accessible explainers? We’re offering $5,000 innovation grants and coaching to help five newsrooms bring their ideas to life. Selected participants will receive funding and one-on-one support from Trusting News to help plan, execute and evaluate an AI education project. Find more information and a link to the application here.

Why we’re doing this: People associate relevance, helpfulness and usefulness with trust. We see AI education as an opportunity for journalists to earn trust by providing needed public service resources. Questions? Contact Lynn Walsh: Lynn@TrustingNews.org

Trusting News AI Education Cohort

When: The cohort will begin September 30, 2025 and finish on March 31, 2026.

Who can apply:

• This cohort is open to newsrooms that produce news content in English and Spanish. (Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to support other languages/communities, but would like to in the future.)
• This cohort is for journalists working full-time in a newsroom. We are looking for participants to apply as a small newsroom team of at least three journalists. (We unfortunately cannot accept freelance journalists or other individual content creators for this particular initiative, though resources we share afterward will be relevant to their work as well.)
• Newsrooms of any publication size, content medium/platform and ownership type can apply. This includes broadcast (radio, tv, online video), print, online, corporately owned, non-profit, student newsrooms, etc.
• Newsrooms do NOT need to be actively using AI in their newsroom. This cohort is experimenting with educating the public about AI in general, not how it is used in your newsroom (though Trusting News does have advice on that and can offer guidance on that throughout the cohort). You may apply whether or not you are using AI in your news coverage.

Participating newsrooms will:

• Publish educational materials about AI provided by Trusting News. These materials will be created for the cohort with the ability for some customization by your newsroom.
• Attach short audience surveys to those materials to gather data on how the materials affected news consumers’ understanding of AI and trust in news.
• Track and share engagement metrics of the educational content materials shared.
• Meet once or twice a month (Tuesdays at Noon Eastern) from September 30, 2025, to March 31, 2026.
• Be willing to talk publicly to your audience about your participation, such as through an explainer or social post about the initiative and your newsroom’s involvement (Trusting News will have sample language and help you write and share this).
• Have or be willing to create a public-facing AI use policy by the end of the cohort. (Trusting News will help you create this or make changes to an existing policy.)

This is a good fit for your newsroom if you:

• Want to educate your audience about AI and how it’s showing up in the world around them.
• Want to serve as a helpful and useful resource for your community by educating them about something that is constantly changing and complicated to understand.
• Are open to experimenting with audience engagement strategies and sharing back what you learn.
• Want to contribute to industry-leading research about trust in journalism and emerging technologies.

Use this form to apply by August 22. Questions? Contact Lynn Walsh: Lynn@TrustingNews.org

Trusting News AI Education innovation grants

When: The innovation projects will begin at the end of September and end March 31, 2026.

Who can apply:

• This cohort is for journalists working full-time in a newsroom. We are looking for participants to apply as a small newsroom team of at least three journalists. We unfortunately cannot accept freelance journalists or other individual content creators at this time.
• Newsrooms of any publication size, content medium and ownership makeup can apply. This includes broadcast (radio, TV, online video), print, online, corporately owned, non-profit, newsrooms, etc.
• Newsrooms should have experience talking directly with their audience to be selected. We expect the ideas to be implemented during the grant period, so if you are pitching an in-person event or engagement strategy, this should not be the first time you have ever done something like that.
• Newsrooms do NOT need to be actively using AI in their newsroom. This cohort is experimenting with educating the public about AI in general, not how it is used in your newsroom (but Trusting News does have advice on that and can offer guidance on that throughout the cohort). If you are using AI in your news coverage, you can apply, but it AI use is NOT a requirement.

Participating newsrooms will:

• Meet with Trusting News staff and researchers to stay on track with a timeline agreed upon and developed collaboratively. (All ideas must be implemented by March 31, 2026.)
• Attach a research element to your education idea so the industry can learn about the effectiveness of different strategies. (We’re open to a variety of approaches depending on the project and will have a research partner to help develop and execute the research.)
• Have or be willing to create a public-facing AI use policy. (Trusting News will help you create this or make changes to an existing policy.)

This is a good fit for your newsroom if you:

• Want to lead innovative community engagement and education projects around artificial intelligence.
• Have experience engaging directly with your audience.
• Have previously talked publicly about your use of AI in news (or are ready to).
• Want to create meaningful, trust-building experiences around emerging tech, especially for communities who may feel left out of or confused by AI.

Use this form to apply by August 29. Questions? Contact Lynn Walsh: Lynn@TrustingNews.org

At Trusting News, we learn how people decide what news to trust and turn that knowledge into actionable strategies for journalists. We train and empower journalists to take responsibility for demonstrating credibility and actively earning trust through transparency and engagement. Learn more about our work, vision and team. Subscribe to our Trust Tips newsletter. Follow us on Twitter, BlueSky and LinkedIn.