The Lightship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Public Statement from Journalist Audrey Korte: AI-Incident at the Wisconsin State Journal Sept. 8, 2025 Madison, WI — Many weeks after the biggest mistake of my career, I’m finally ready to speak publicly on the issue. I’ve taken time to gather my thoughts, investigate the problem, and document my actions in full. I want to own my part, offer a sincere apology, and explain what happened.

Published: 12:14 p.m., Sept. 8 Last updated: 6:55 p.m., Sept. 10 By: Audrey Korte Three months ago, I arrived in Madison ready to build a new life — eager to earn trust, learn furiously, and prove myself in a big-city newsroom. I worked for many years to get this far and I was stoked to have been recruited to join the team here. By mid-July, it all went to hell. I was labeled a “disgraced” reporter. So what happened? Believe it or not I’ve been wanting to tell you for quite some time.

What’s my vote, on the scandal? While “All the cool girls get fired,” may be the phrase of the moment, not much has been cool about this: going public after a public termination, owning multiple mistakes, and boldly recognizing that no employer is perfect — that’s not a welcome or well-understood response for someone who messed up. I knew it would further hurt my career and reputation in many ways. That was inescapable. However, the process I went through has helped me heal.

Hello, Goodbyes By Audrey Korte Sept. 29, 2025 In June of 2022, I arrived in a little city of about 15,000 residents called Chippewa Falls. The western Wisconsin locale sits in the Chippewa Valley and is located about 90 miles east of Minneapolis. Chippewa County has about 65,000 residents and is dotted with small towns, some of which have more cows than humans.

By: Audrey Korte Sept. 21, 2025 This summer I had a costly incident with AI. One would think I would never want to use it again. Correct — but I am exceptionally aware of my lack of  experience with AI and want to understand this stuff better. The Lightship site was created, using Wix and Canva, by me with some help from three web designers who mostly aided me in getting the site secure and functional after a cyber security incident. It is still a work in progress but the site is operational again.

Technology feels like a countdown clock, a digital doomsayer and trying to fix it after hacks and digital attacks is a fiasco. Is this all there is? 📵 An update from Audrey Korte 5:45 a.m., Sept. 19 The Lightship headed for open water, 💦 but turned back to port for repairs ⚓️ Howdy folks 🤠 After a messy launch to the website last week I wanted to share an update now that I have time and some more information. My accounts were attacked aggressively throughout the week in a critical security incident.

audreykorte Sep 8 7 min read Updated: 2 days ago AI is being used in understaffed newsrooms, how errors are handled, invisible disabilities, support and training, and what accountability should look like when both humans and machines get it wrong. By: Audrey Korte @akorteshares First Posted: Sept. 8, 2025 Last updated at 5:10 p.m., Sept.