The Washington Post plans to enable non-professional writers to submit opinion columns with assistance from an AI writing tool, according to The New York Times.

The initiative, known internally as “Ripple,” aims to expand the variety of opinion pieces available on the platform.

The AI tool, called Ember, will support writers by automating certain editorial tasks.

It includes features such as a “story strength” tracker and a sidebar that outlines key components of an article, including a thesis, supporting points, and a conclusion.

Ember will also provide prompts and questions to help guide contributors.

.source-ref{font-size:0.85em;color:#666;display:block;margin-top:1em;}a.ask-tia-citation-link:hover{color:#11628d !important;background:#e9f6f5 !important;border-color:#11628d !important;text-decoration:none !important;}@media only screen and (min-width:768px){a.ask-tia-citation-link{font-size:11px !important;}}

🔗 Source: The Verge

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The evolution of opinion journalism reflects market-driven transformations

The Washington Post’s Ember initiative follows a long historical pattern of journalism adapting to market forces and technology.

Early newspapers were explicitly partisan, with publications in the 19th century directly aligned with political parties and economic interests, lacking the objectivity we later came to expect 1.

The concept of journalistic objectivity only emerged around the 1920s as newspapers faced increased competition and needed to appeal to wider audiences, a commercial rather than purely ideological shift 2.

Opinion columns as a formal category appeared around this same period, creating a designated space for commentary separate from news reporting, allowing publications to feature perspectives while maintaining an appearance of objectivity 3.

This pattern of market-driven innovation continues today, as The Post’s Ripple project appears designed to capture readers seeking “more breadth” than traditional opinion sections, potentially addressing declining subscriber numbers following recent editorial controversies.

2️⃣ AI tools represent the next phase in journalism’s technological evolution

Ember’s introduction follows a consistent historical pattern where journalism has been transformed by successive waves of technology.

From the telegraph, which dramatically accelerated news transmission in the 19th century, to radio and television broadcasting, each technological leap has fundamentally altered how news is produced and consumed 4.

Current AI implementations in newsrooms are already showing significant efficiency gains, with some organizations reporting 75-85% reductions in time from event detection to publication 5.

Research indicates that AI-generated content is increasingly indistinguishable from human-written journalism, with one study finding journalism students actually rated AI-written news higher in quality than human-produced content across multiple dimensions 6.

The Washington Post’s approach with Ember, having AI assist non-professional writers while maintaining human editorial oversight, appears to follow the emerging best practice of creating collaborative human-AI workflows rather than full automation 7.

3️⃣ Owner influence shapes editorial direction amid industry-wide identity crisis

The Ripple project emerges at a critical moment when The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, is taking a more active role in shaping the paper’s editorial direction.

Bezos recently announced significant changes to the Post’s opinion section, focusing it on “personal liberties and free markets,” which led to the resignation of Opinions Editor David Shipley who had advocated for more viewpoint diversity 8.

This intervention follows a historical pattern—newspaper owners have long influenced editorial positions, from the partisan papers of the 19th century to the “yellow journalism” era when publishers like Hearst and Pulitzer used their papers to advance personal agendas 1.

The timing of Ripple’s development alongside Bezos’s directive against publishing opinions opposed to “free speech and free markets” raises questions about whether the platform might be designed to advance particular viewpoints while maintaining an appearance of openness.

The Post’s subscriber losses following the cancellation of its presidential endorsement (reportedly by Bezos) demonstrate the commercial risks of owner intervention in traditional editorial functions 9.

……