Welcome to the News Futures Workshop @ CHI 2025!

The ways in which news is produced and consumed is constantly reshaped by technological change—today, this takes the form of AI integration in newsrooms, the rise of independent news creators, algorithmic curation on new platforms, and so on. In this workshop, we’ll explore these different socio-technical shifts in the practices of news production and consumption, and how they might impact the public service function of the news.

Bringing together researchers, designers, and media practitioners, we will learn about the latest research at the intersection of news, democracy, and HCI, reflect on socio-technical changes and the challenges they present for practitioners and audiences. We will use these activities to identify future directions for HCI research that support news production and civic engagement.

Join us to help shape the future of news in a rapidly changing world! 

Featured Panelists

The workshop will open with a morning panel featuring HCI researchers and media industry professionals. This conversation will frame key challenges and opportunities in designing socio-technical systems for news and the information ecosystem, setting the foundation for the day's collaborative activities.

Key Information

Submission Deadline: February 27, 2024 (AoE) February 20, 2025 (AoE)

Submission Link: Google Form for Submission

Notification of Acceptance: March 14, 2025

Workshop Date: April 26, 2025

Workshop Location: Yokohama, Japan (in-person only)

Contact: newsfutures.workshop@gmail.com

Schedule

9:00-10:30 AM: Opening, Participant Introductions & Panel Discussion

10:30-11:10 AM: Coffee Break

11:10-12:40 PM: Lightning Talks (Part 1)

12:40-2:10 PM: Lunch Break

2:10-3:40 PM: Lightning Talks (Part 2) & Initial Group Activity

3:40-4:20 PM: Coffee Break

4:20-5:50 PM: Collaborative Group Activity & Wrap-up

Call for Participation

The News Futures workshop will convene interdisciplinary voices in HCI and news at a crucial moment to critically examine how news production and consumption is changing, and how HCI can support these activities. In light of transformative events like worldwide elections in 2024 and emerging technologies like generative AI, we will examine the reconfigurations of actors and activities in the news ecosystem, and how design can address these changes. Participants will engage in collaborative activities to synthesize the state of research in news and HCI, reflect on current challenges facing news producers, platforms, and audiences, and identify future research directions.

We encourage (but are not confined to) submissions addressing one or more of our three key themes: 

1. Design and implications of AI in news production, dissemination, consumption: E.g., how do reporters make sense of AI tools in news production? How do these new tools impact work practices? Can they impact the exercise of core journalistic principles like accuracy and accountability? How does generative AI impact consumers' information-seeking practices?

2. Issues of credibility, trust and access for news and civic information: E.g., can designed tools support citizen reporters in providing legitimate information to citizens? How can we design systems that foster trust between news providers and communities? Can design interventions help bridge news deserts, ensuring equitable access to credible information?

3. Power and value conflicts in research and design: E.g., what are useful methods to surface power asymmetries or value conflicts when designing socio-technical systems for news? What strategies might help redistribute power from dominant tech actors to journalists, smaller news organizations, or communities?

Submission Deadline: February 27, 2024 (AoE) February 20, 2025 (AoE)

Submission Link: Google Form for Submission

Submission Format: 2 - 6 pages in the ACM single-column format (excluding references and appendix). You do not need to anonymize your submission.

Submission Types: Position papers, empirical studies, lit reviews, works-in-progress, and encore submissions of recent peer-reviewed work are welcome. The submission will be non-archival. 

Review Process: Single-blind. Papers will be evaluated based on their relevance, originality, quality, and potential to foster engaging discussions. We will advertise the accepted papers on our workshop website.

Templates: Word | LaTex | Overleaf

Notes: 

• If using LaTeX, please use \documentclass[manuscript,review]{acmart} in your preamble.

• At least one author from each accepted submission must attend the workshop, and all participants must register for the workshop and at least one day before the conference. 

Organizers