The Highlighter online edition was created in 2016 and has been an important part of the journalism program at Rocky Mountain High School ever since. It is created with SNO, a platform made for student journalists, and helps foster their creativity and love for writing. It is used to report news and information from Rocky and the surrounding Fort Collins community. It supports credible and real stories, which is increasingly important with the rise of AI-generated content online.
AI content steals the work and ideas created by other people in order to create something soulless and meaningless. It has no thought behind it and is made using stolen work to create an amalgamation of other artists’ and writers’ work. Additionally, it uses so much energy to produce the content that it is terrible for the environment. This content erases the individuality of the journalists and artists of the world by stealing their work and creating an abomination of it.
The journalistic field needs more good reporters now, especially when AI-generated content and misinformation is constantly being spread online. It’s up to journalists to go against the massive amounts of false information on the internet and the rise of AI content. This is why The Highlighter is so important, not only to the Rocky community but also to the future of journalism. Only humans can get the right information and present it in a meaningful way, something that AI is incapable of doing.
The AI-generated content is actively spreading misinformation that people believe, and these people are blindly believing it without making sure the information is real. Those behind AI-generated content have shown no concern over the damage it actively causes and continue to use it to gain traction. This is shown by, for example, Brenden Dilley, leader of the Dilley Meme Team, a Trump fan group that spreads political propaganda via AI-generated content.
He stated on X during Trump’s reelection campaign, “The truth no longer matters, all you have to do is go viral.”
President Donald Trump himself has used AI extensively to spread his ideologies, and some people are believing it to be true. Many people are mocking Trump’s use of AI without thinking about the implications about it. He has used AI to generate content attacking the opposing political party and to show himself as a moral person who is saving cats and dogs from immigrants who are eating them, and not only is he spreading misinformation, he is spreading racist ideologies.
In that regard, it is journalists’ responsibility to give credible information that disproves the constant barrage of misinformation, informs the general public, and celebrates the individuality of writers and artists to support human-made content.
The Highlighter as a platform supports journalistic integrity and the individuality of the students at Rocky. It is a beacon of hope in the spread of misinformation and it supports young writers and their humanity. Support meaningful content in the world by supporting real people and learning about them. The members of The Highlighter work hard to give the Rocky community a voice and a place to read credible stories. It is important that their stories and the stories of Rocky’s community are heard, no misinformation or propaganda included.
