{"id":8722,"date":"2026-05-19T14:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/?post_type=hbi-publications&#038;p=8722"},"modified":"2026-08-02T22:58:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:58:42","slug":"exploring-gpt-representation-of-journalistic-culture","status":"publish","type":"hbi-publications","link":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/exploring-gpt-representation-of-journalistic-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring GPT Representation of Journalistic Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8175 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/26-05-19-Going-with-the-Mainstream-Exploring-GPT-Representation-of-Journalistic-Culture_Wiebke-Loosen-300x193.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/26-05-19-Going-with-the-Mainstream-Exploring-GPT-Representation-of-Journalistic-Culture_Wiebke-Loosen-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/26-05-19-Going-with-the-Mainstream-Exploring-GPT-Representation-of-Journalistic-Culture_Wiebke-Loosen-768x494.jpg 768w, https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/26-05-19-Going-with-the-Mainstream-Exploring-GPT-Representation-of-Journalistic-Culture_Wiebke-Loosen.jpg 840w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The study by <a href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/employee\/wiebke-loosen\/\">Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen<\/a> et al. examines how large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT can reflect journalistic value systems. To this end, the GPT-4o model was asked to answer questions from the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/worldsofjournalism.org\/\">Worlds of Journalism Study<\/a>,\u201d which explores perceptions of journalistic roles, theories of knowledge, and ethical principles.<\/p>\n<p>The article was published in the journal \u201cThe International Journal of Press\/Politics (IJPP)\u201d and can be purchased <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/19401612261442761\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Abstract<\/h2>\n<p>As generative AI becomes increasingly integrated into journalism, questions about its implications for journalistic practice grow more urgent. Despite the rise of AI systems, news organizations often lack an informed understanding of how these systems operate, potentially undermining journalists\u2019 capacity to exercise agency in AI-assisted news production. This study explores how large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, can reflect journalistic value systems. It does this by prompting the GPT-4o model to respond to survey items from the Worlds of Journalism Study that measure journalistic role perceptions, epistemologies, and ethics. These responses were compared to actual survey data from the US, UK, and Germany. Our findings suggest that GPT-4o\u2019s outputs correspond most strongly to the survey responses of politically centrist, full-time journalists whose employers have a TV background, while showing less alignment with right-leaning, part-time, and non-degree-holding journalists. These propensities were most pronounced in the German dataset. While we do not assert that GPT-4o\u2019s cultural orientation directly translates to its journalistic applications, the results reveal which groups of journalists\u2019 perspectives the LLM is more\u2014or less\u2014likely to reflect. By mapping this alignment, the study offers an empirical point of departure for guiding how journalists can maintain agency in their use of LLMs, and thereby contributes to ongoing discourse about the ethical, epistemological, and institutional dimensions of AI in journalism.<\/p>\n<p>Kang, T., Vos, T., Hanitzsch, T., Thurman, N., Henkel, I., Th\u00e4sler-Kordonouri, S., &amp; Loosen, W. (2026). Going with the Mainstream: Exploring GPT Representation of Journalistic Culture. <i>The International Journal of Press\/Politics<\/i>, <i>0<\/i>(0).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2579,"template":"","tags":[398,408,400],"class_list":["post-8722","hbi-publications","type-hbi-publications","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-miscellaneous","tag-other-publication","tag-other-publications"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Exploring GPT Representation of Journalistic Culture - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/exploring-gpt-representation-of-journalistic-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exploring GPT Representation of Journalistic Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The study by Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen et al. examines how large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT can reflect journalistic value systems. 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