The use of automation in journalism is encroaching more and more on what many would consider to be journalists’ core professional roles, such as the identification of story leads, verification, and decisions about which stories are shown, and with what prominence. Automation has also started to play a role in the creation of news texts, initially by helping to generate natural language—the written word—but now also in the production of news videos.
The proportion of consumers who watch online news videos each week has increased substantially—from 24% in 2016 to 67% in 2020 (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2020). Over the same period, there has been an increase in the use of automation in news video production. This online event brings together researchers, technology-providers, and publishers to explore what audiences want from online news video, and whether automation can help deliver.
This event is part of a collaboration between Neil Thurman (LMU Munich) and Meredith Broussard (NYU), funded by the LMU-NYU Research Cooperation Program.