FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 1, 2025
Media Contacts:
Kathleen Floyd, Comms, WBNG — kfloyd@wbng.org, (202) 734-7830
PEN Guild — politicoeenewsguild@gmail.com
WASHINGTON — Unionized journalists at POLITICO and E&E News (PEN Guild) announced today a major victory in their arbitration case against POLITICO management over the company’s unilateral introduction of artificial intelligence tools that bypassed negotiated safeguards and undermined core journalistic standards.
In a detailed decision, the arbitrator found POLITICO violated the collective bargaining agreement when it launched two AI-driven products — a “Live Summaries” feature used during the 2024 Democratic National Convention and Vice Presidential Debate, and the Capitol AI Report-Builder tool for POLITICO Pro subscribers — without providing required notice, bargaining, or human oversight, as required by the contract.
This case marks one of the nation’s first major labor-arbitration rulings addressing the impact of AI on journalists’ work, setting an important precedent for the entire U.S. news industry.
“This ruling is a clear affirmation that AI cannot be deployed as a shortcut around union rights, ethical journalism, or human judgment,” Unit Chair Ariel Wittenberg said. “This is a win for our members at POLITICO fighting to ensure that AI strengthens our newsroom rather than undermining it.”
During negotiations for a first union contract, PEN Guild pushed for proactive protections against job loss and erosion of journalistic standards from AI-generated content. The resulting AI article requires the company to give 60 days notice and engage in good-faith bargaining before introducing new AI tools that substantively materially impact job duties or could lead to layoffs. It also requires that any AI used in newsgathering must comply with POLITICO’s own ethical standards and include human oversight. The arbitrator concluded that POLITICO ignored these obligations.
The arbitrator found:
- Live Summaries were posted in prime “above-the-scroll” homepage placements without human editing, outside the normal content system, and were not corrected despite containing factual errors, missing context, and violations of POLITICO’s Stylebook.
- Capitol AI Report-Builder generated 500-word reports, complete with headlines and citations to journalists’ bylined work, without any editorial review, despite containing “glaring errors” and misinterpretations that would not meet newsroom standards.
- In both cases, POLITICO failed to give the Guild the required notice or opportunity to bargain.
He ruled: “If the goal is speed and the cost is accuracy and accountability, AI is the clear winner. If accuracy and accountability is the baseline, then AI, as used in these instances, cannot yet rival the hallmarks of human output, which are accuracy and reliability.”
“This ruling affirms that employers cannot use emerging technology as an end-run around contractual obligations,” said Amos Laor, Washington-Baltimore News Guild General Counsel. “AI tools may be new, but the legal principles we secured in the agreement are not: management must provide notice, bargain with the union, and ensure that innovation does not come at the expense of workers’ rights or diminish their work. For journalists, issues of journalistic integrity are directly tied to their reputation, relationship with readers, and ability to perform their duties, and we view the protection of newsroom ethical standards as an integral part of their labor rights.”
“This decision makes it clear that unionized journalists are the ones fighting for accurate news when companies roll out AI spreading misinformation,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “Jouranlists, by unionizing and demanding quality for their readers, are negotiating stronger ethics, accountability and actual humans producing the news. This ruling is a strong message to every media boss: AI must be implemented responsibly, transparently and through negotiation with journalists.”
PEN Guild remains committed to protecting members’ jobs, ensuring editorial integrity, and securing a future in which technology enhances, not threatens, the work of journalists.
Read about why we went to arbitration here.
This week, The NewsGuild launched a national week of AI action to keep the pressure up on media companies implementing unethical AI. Visit newsnotslop.org to learn more and sign the petition demanding ethical AI use in our newsrooms.
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About the PEN Guild
The POLITICO and E&E News (PEN) Guild represents over 270 journalists across POLITICO and E&E News. Formed in 2021, the PEN Guild is part of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, Local 32035 of The NewsGuild-CWA. The unit ratified its first contract in 2024, securing significant wins including strong AI protections, guaranteed raises, improved salary floors, paid parental leave, fertility and IVF coverage, comp time and overtime guarantees, and key safeguards for equitable and ethical journalism.
About the Washington-Baltimore News Guild
The Washington-Baltimore News Guild, Local 32035 of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America, the union for more than 3,000 news, information, nonprofit and labor organization workers in the mid-Atlantic and beyond, including the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, AFL-CIO, Bloomberg and the American Nurses Association (ANA). Together, we hold our employers accountable and ensure that our workplaces reflect our values, which include ensuring everyone is free from harassment and retaliation, earns equal pay for equal work and has a voice in their workplace.