What We're Reading: Reporting Your Way Out of the AI Trap
- The Neal Conan Prize

- Jun 27
- 1 min read

Last month, we wrote about Sean Highkin leaving Substack. This month, two more journalists are answering the same question from the other side — not which platform, but what's worth paying for.
Casey Newton is steering Platformer hard toward original reporting, away from aggregation, on the theory that the one thing a machine can't fake is reported, accountable, first-hand work. The same week, veteran AI reporter Sharon Goldman launched Ground Level AI, an independent newsletter and podcast covering enterprise AI on her own terms.
It's the bet the Prize makes on mid-career journalists every year: that the durable moat isn't the platform, it's the work — and the judgment behind it.



Comments