Summer 2015 Edition Of The Nieman Report

1098 Words5 Pages

Our world is increasingly becoming technology-driven. With technology playing a major role in almost every aspect of our lives, including how we generate and consume news, newsrooms across the globe are presently in a state of change. This change can be seen in the way how news is collected, facts are checked and re-checked, and stories are created – with the help of technology. Today automation is a reality in newsrooms. Algorithms, which are processes or set of rules followed by computers, have made the process of news gathering and generation much simpler. A question that often comes up is whether computers would replace human journalists in the future? Similarly, questions have been raised about the ability of machines to provide insight …show more content…

These stories look at how journalists respond to huge resources of information and data, reach out to audiences with their stories, and keep their audiences involved in the stories with the help of computerised processes or algorithms. Additionally, there are also articles which look at how technology is able to influence the process of storytelling. Reporters, with the help of technology, are devising new ways to tell tales that not only inform, but create empathy and understanding.
One reason why automation has taken off well in news organisations is that it helps them to analyse vast amounts of data available. This data is not just limited to facts pertaining to specific stories, but also data related to the locations which news organisations cover as well as their target audiences.
Another reason is that automation improves one of the essential features of the news game – collecting and publishing news first or faster. Sports and Business are two sections which have embraced automation since both are rely heavily on …show more content…

Medium helps readers to not only engage with the text but also with other people. Writers can have followers who can recommend their work to others and thus their audience increases. This is picked up by the algorithm, resulting in more recommendations. Hansen points out that while humans can judge the content of articles better than algorithms, it is not easy to do so amidst a sea of such articles. Whereas a combination of both computers and humans simplify this process.
Another novel way of telling news stories with the help of technology is in the use of virtual reality. Karim Ben Khelifa’s project titled “The Enemy” is set to be completed only by 2017. However, its prototype has already proved the shared humanness that people share no matter who they are. This project uses life size portraits of combatants who have taken up arms in various parts of the world, and provides participants with background information on the conflict affected area.
Many reporters believe that automation helps them in the very basic purpose of reporting: to decide why a story should be told. Since automation requires preplanning, the reporter is expected to decide on the kind of narratives that he or she wishes to generate. It is keeping the narrative in mind that codes are generated for automated systems. Thus the very purpose of journalism is