Lou Paskalis doesn’t just dabble in media ethics—he practically wields them like a broadsword against the rising tide of misinformation, AI chaos, and clickbait nonsense. When I sat down with him, he didn’t sugarcoat the problem. “Media gets a buy—no pun intended—on aligning with corporate values,” he said, already setting the stage for a discussion on how companies love to preach transparency but somehow forget that sermon when buying ad space.

This isn’t just about brands taking the moral high ground, though. It’s about survival in a world that’s increasingly being run by algorithms that could care less about your ethics. Lou warned, “AI is the biggest crisis-opportunity we’ll face. For every hour spent on innovation, spend an hour on governance.” It’s a strong statement, and frankly, it makes you wonder why more CEOs aren’t panicking. Maybe because they’re too busy counting clicks and pretending their quarterly reports will fix themselves.

Journalists might come out of Lou Paskalis’s tirade a little bruised, but compared to the platforms that exploit their work, they’re practically sainted. “Journalists are the knights of truth, defending facts in a world where truth has become fungible,” Lou declared, striking a rare note of optimism. Platforms, on the other hand? “There’s a difference between journalists, who strive for facts, and platforms that cater to clicks. The business model needs a reboot—clickbait is not sustainable.”

And Lou’s not wrong. We’ve all clicked on a headline promising to “blow our minds” only to end up wondering why we fell for yet another glorified slideshow. Lou sees this as more than an annoyance—it’s a symptom of a journalism industry backed into a financial corner, fighting for survival with the cheapest, loudest tools at its disposal. “The only sign of life in some newsrooms is death,” he said, cutting right to the bone with a story about a local paper that slashed its entire newsroom staff until the sole remaining employee was answering calls for obituaries. Grim doesn’t even begin to cover it.

But Lou isn’t here to wallow in despair—he’s got ideas, big ones. And they start with advertisers stepping up and putting their money where the truth is. Not because it’s the noble thing to do (although it is), but because it’s good business. “Advertisers need to support quality journalism, or we risk creating an information divide,” he explained. In plain terms: without ad dollars, journalism risks becoming the gated mansion at the top of the hill, with everyone else stuck sifting through the algorithm’s digital junkyard.

Lou’s push for advertiser support isn’t just about saving journalism—it’s about preserving democracy itself. Without accessible, quality reporting, we’re left in a world where facts are a luxury, available only to those who can pay for them. The rest? They’re stuck with the echo chambers of social media and the endless churn of clickbait headlines that keep us angry, divided, and uninformed. “This isn’t just a media problem,” Lou warned. “It’s a societal one.”

The fix, according to Lou, is for advertisers to realize that investing in journalism is a win-win. They not only support a healthier information ecosystem but also get to align their brands with the credibility that comes from trusted reporting. It’s a no-brainer, yet somehow we’re still stuck in the quicksand of click-driven metrics, waiting for someone—anyone—to throw a lifeline.

Lou’s call to action is clear: advertisers need to stop treating journalism like it’s a dying art and start recognizing it for what it is—a cornerstone of any functioning society. “This is about more than headlines,” Lou said. “It’s about making sure the truth is accessible to everyone, not just the privileged few.” And if that doesn’t light a fire under the industry, what will?

While the industry is busy clutching their pearls over Skynet scenarios, Lou Paskalis cuts straight to the chase. “AI is the biggest crisotunity,” he said, hitting us with that perfectly hyphenated paradox. For Lou, it’s not just about supercharging ad targeting or streamlining processes—it’s about avoiding the dark side of automation. “If you let AI run unchecked, it’ll exclude marginalized groups and undermine your brand values.” In other words, don’t let your shiny new algorithm become a gatekeeper for discrimination.

Lou’s take on AI isn’t the typical doom-and-gloom. He’s not here to tell us that the machines will rise and take over. But he is crystal clear: AI isn’t a magic wand, and it definitely isn’t a substitute for the human touch. “AI cannot go into the courthouse and understand context. It may get a transcription, but it won’t catch the human element—the reactions, the emotions.” You know, the kind of nuance that separates hard-hitting journalism from whatever your uncle posts on Facebook.

Still, Lou isn’t dismissing AI outright—far from it. He’s all for using it as a tool to handle the grunt work, freeing up human creativity for the heavy lifting. “Fact-checking, summarizing notes, keeping headline writers honest—AI can be a force multiplier,” he said. And let’s be real, anything that reins in clickbait and makes headlines actually reflect the story beneath them? That’s worth the price of admission alone. “The click model is not sustainable,” he pointed out, and if AI can help us move beyond the era of misleading, rage-bait headlines, maybe it’s time to embrace it.

Lou envisions a future where AI and human ingenuity coexist—not in some kumbaya way, but in a practical, no-nonsense partnership. AI can handle the tedious tasks and help cut through the noise, but it’s still up to humans to steer the ship. “Context is more important than identity,” Lou emphasized, arguing that AI’s real potential lies in understanding intent and tailoring experiences accordingly. It’s a vision of AI as an enhancer, not a replacement—a tool to make the impossible possible, not a shortcut to cut corners.

The challenge? Making sure the governance catches up with the innovation. For every hour spent figuring out how AI can make ads smarter, Lou urges an equal hour spent on ensuring it aligns with ethical standards. “We can’t let AI become a runaway train,” he warned. And if that means slowing down to build systems that actually reflect our values, then so be it. After all, no one wants their brand’s legacy to be: “The algorithm made me do it.”

When it comes to regulation, Lou Paskalis doesn’t just see a mess—he sees a full-blown disaster waiting to happen. “Federal privacy legislation is critical. Without it, we’re stuck in a Tower of Babel with state-by-state regulation,” he said, likening the current chaos to a regulatory Hunger Games where publishers and marketers are left scrambling to survive. While Europe’s GDPR at least pretends to create a unified framework, the U.S. has opted for the opposite approach: a patchwork of state laws that make compliance a logistical nightmare. Imagine trying to play Monopoly, but every state has its own set of rules, and you’ve just landed on a property with no idea if you owe rent or jail time.

This isn’t just an academic concern—it’s a very real headache for businesses that operate across state lines. For publishers and marketers, the sheer volume of compliance requirements is overwhelming. Add in the global nature of the digital marketplace, and it’s like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube while blindfolded. “We need federal privacy legislation to create a level playing field,” Lou insisted, pointing out that without it, the U.S. risks falling further behind in the global race for trust and transparency.

So, who’s supposed to clean up this mess? Ideally, trade associations would step up to the plate, but Lou isn’t holding his breath. “There’s a five-year backlog on the work trade associations need to do,” he said bluntly. In other words, while these organizations are bogged down in yesterday’s issues, the industry is racing ahead into the uncharted territories of AI, dynamic creative optimization, and privacy tech. And let’s not forget the looming specter of AI-driven ad ecosystems—an arena where ethical landmines are everywhere, and the clock is ticking.

To Lou, this isn’t just frustrating; it’s downright dangerous. Without cohesive standards, the entire ecosystem becomes a free-for-all, with platforms, agencies, and advertisers each interpreting the rules their own way—or worse, ignoring them altogether. It’s a recipe for chaos, and the only winners are the lawyers racking up billable hours as they navigate the regulatory quagmire.

“Trade associations are vital for setting standards,” Lou explained. But the reality is grim: most are underfunded, understaffed, and ill-equipped to tackle the fast-evolving challenges of today’s advertising landscape. It’s like expecting a typewriter repairman to fix your iPhone—good luck with that.

For Lou, the path forward is clear: federal legislation needs to happen, and it needs to happen fast. But until it does, the advertising industry is left with a Tower of Babel where no one speaks the same language, and everyone’s just trying to keep their heads above water.

Despite the grim picture, Lou Paskalis remains cautiously hopeful, though his optimism comes with a healthy dose of realism. “I’m optimistic we’ll move toward our better angels, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” he said, laying it all out like a cautionary tale. He compared the current state of media to the grotesque conditions Upton Sinclair exposed in The Jungle, a book so stomach-churning it forced Congress to clean up the meatpacking industry. Imagine that—a novel so disgusting it got lawmakers to stop arguing long enough to actually do something. If only we could recreate that energy for the mess that is modern media.

For Lou, the parallels are hard to ignore. Just as Sinclair’s exposé pushed people to demand safer food, Lou envisions a tipping point where the public will say, "Enough!" But instead of rancid beef, today’s outrage might come from the realization that our information diet has been poisoned by clickbait, misinformation, and platforms that profit from polarization. "It’s going to take a cultural outrage," Lou emphasized, suggesting that until people truly feel the impact of a broken media ecosystem—be it through the collapse of local journalism or the spread of unchecked disinformation—real reform will remain elusive.

What might that outrage look like? Lou speculates it’ll hit when the divide between those who can access quality journalism and those who can’t becomes impossible to ignore. “Advertisers need to support quality journalism, or we risk creating an information divide,” he warned, painting a bleak picture of a society where facts are a luxury for the wealthy, while everyone else gets fed the algorithmic equivalent of processed spam. It’s not just a problem for the media; it’s a direct threat to democracy itself.

But Lou isn’t throwing in the towel. He sees potential for a renaissance if advertisers, media companies, and regulators can align their interests. It won’t be easy—after all, reforming an industry addicted to outrage and clicks is about as easy as convincing a teenager to ditch TikTok. Still, if Sinclair’s The Jungle could turn the stomach of a nation and drive change, maybe the right wake-up call can do the same for media ethics.

The question is: What will it take? Will it be a scandal so big it can’t be ignored? A collapse of a major news outlet that shocks the industry into action? Or maybe, just maybe, it’ll come from a critical mass of advertisers and consumers demanding better. Whatever the catalyst, Lou’s message is clear: we’re not there yet, but with the right mix of outrage and accountability, we just might find our way back to the better angels of our media landscape.

Lou’s parting advice to media professionals is simple but powerful: “Don’t expect what you don’t inspect.” It’s a call to arms for advertisers, journalists, and technologists alike to stop outsourcing responsibility and start engaging with the complexities of their industries. Whether it’s AI governance, supporting journalism, or navigating the murky waters of ethics in advertising, Lou makes one thing clear: the work is far from over.

And if that doesn’t inspire you to rethink your approach, maybe nothing will.

Pesach Lattin, ADOTAT
[email protected]
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pesach-lattin/