Newsroom Robots

Chris Dinn, founder of Torontoverse, talks about developing an AI chatbot to analyze and report on municipal budgets. The podcast covers topics like the effects of the Online News Act in Canada, AI's impact on the news industry, innovative approaches to local news delivery, innovative monetization strategies for news products, using AI to analyze municipal budgets, understanding GitHub and Slack for code development and content creation, the role of AI in journalism, the future of their work in Toronto, and exploring AI chatbots and the value of high-quality content.

Mark Hansen joins Nikita Roy to discuss how generative AI can enhance data journalism, particularly by accelerating coding tasks. The discussion also addresses bias and privacy concerns associated with AI models.Mark is the East Coast Director of The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, a collaborative initiative between Columbia Journalism School and Stanford's School of Engineering. Mark began his tenure at Columbia Journalism School over a decade ago, serving as a Professor and teaching computational and data journalism courses.An investigation in one of his classes examining the bot economy behind the sale of fake followers on Twitter garnered significant attention. It became a front-page story in the New York Times and was part of a package of stories that secured the 2019 Polk Award for National Reporting. Additionally, it was shortlisted for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.Mark Hansen earned his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Davis.Referenced:Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh StarSeeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. ScottData Feminism by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren KleinThoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liam Andrew, Chief Product Officer at The Texas Tribune, discusses building a data warehouse and implementing tools like automatic content tagging and content recommendations using AI. The podcast explores the importance of data in AI innovation and the opportunities it presents for nonprofit newsrooms. It also delves into entity recognition, AI's benefits for journalists in the newsroom, and the impact of AI on journalism and funding opportunities.

Uli Köppen, head of the AI + Automation Lab at German Public Broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk, joins Nikita Roy to discuss how BR's newsroom has integrated AI across its entire news cycle. Uli shares her team's work on algorithmic accountability, AI strategy, generative AI experiments, and their experience integrating AI in the newsroom.Uli also co-leads BR Data, the newsroom's investigative data team. The award-winning team at BR Data is pioneering the future of AI in journalism, drawing upon the experience of journalists, coders, and product developers to specialize in investigative data stories, interactive storytelling, and experimentation with AI. In 2019, she spent a year at Harvard and MIT as a Nieman Fellow, focusing on algorithmic accountability, machine bias, and automation in journalism. She also participated in the Online News Association's Women's Leadership Accelerator in 2022.Tune in to learn about advanced AI-driven media from one of Europe's leading voices in the field. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Caplan, Director of Teaching and Learning at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, discusses the evolving landscape of AI tools. Topics include AI implementation in journalism, strategies for avoiding hallucination and maintaining control, evaluating factors for AI tools, AI tools for video editing and productivity, and embracing learning and experimentation in the AI revolution.

Scott Brodbeck joins Nikita Roy to discuss his experiments using generative AI in his local newsroom, from creating completely AI-generated newsletters and AI-generated videos to ad copy and back-office support. He also shares his views for other small newsrooms looking to experiment with AI. Scott is the founder and CEO of Local News Now, which owns and operates three hyperlocal news websites in the United States, covering the Northern Virginia region. A former TV news writer and producer, Scott was also a founding board member of the Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION).Tune in to hear about Scott’s early experiments with generative AI in his newsroom. Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of this episode with Elite Truong, she shares her work leading AI products like Metrics for News and Source Matters at the American Press Institute for local newsrooms. She shares how AI can help local news and her advice for product managers looking to incorporate emerging tech, like generative AI.Elite is the Vice President of Product Strategy at the American Press Institute. Formerly, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Washington Post. In the first part of the episode, she discussed her experience working on emerging technologies. Before joining The Post, Elite spent four years at Vox Media, three as the product manager for off-platform storytelling, primarily negotiating with tech platforms to create user experiences that benefited news consumers. She serves as the Board Secretary for the News Product Alliance and is on the advisory board for Democracy Day.Tune in for the second part of this episode with Elite and hear about her current work at The American Press Institute. Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elite Truong joins Nikita Roy to delve into her journey of leading AI products, first at The Washington Post and now at the American Press Institute, in a special two-part episode. In part one, Elite shares insights from her work on Heliograf, The Washington Post's robot reporter that debuted in 2016. She discusses the evolution of the product under her leadership and explores the potential of computer vision in assisting journalists, particularly when covering traumatic events. Join us for part two of this episode, where we discuss her current role at the American Press Institute and her perspective on the potential applications of generative AI in newsrooms.Elite is the Vice President of Product Strategy at the American Press Institute, where she manages data products like Metrics for News and Source Matters that empower local newsrooms to make strategic decisions. Formerly, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Washington Post, where she led the newsroom R & D team to capture younger and more diverse audiences by creating projects driven by emerging technologies, including machine learning, artificial intelligence, 3D, and augmented reality. Before joining The Post, Elite spent four years at Vox Media, three as the product manager for off-platform storytelling, primarily negotiating with tech platforms to create user experiences that benefited news consumers.She serves as the Board Secretary for the News Product Alliance and is on the advisory board for Democracy Day.Don't miss out, as Elite recounts her initial experiences with AI product development at The Washington Post in this episode.Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aimee Rinehart, the Senior Product Manager of AI Strategy for The Associated Press  joins Nikita Roy to discuss how AP is using AI and the tools being built as part of AP’s Local News AI Initiative. Aimee shares AP's current approach of learning and experimentation with generative AI through projects around translation, image identification and search. Before joining AP, Aimee served as the Deputy Director of First Draft's New York Bureau, where she helped journalists and newsrooms navigate the mis- and disinformation during the 2018 and 2020 U.S. election cycles. In 2018, she managed Comprova, a project to monitor and analyze misinformation and disinformation around the 2018 Brazilian elections. Aimee started working online in 1996 and was a digital originator at The New York Times, and returned to print briefly as an editor at the Wall Street Journal Europe in Brussels.Tune in to hear how one of the largest news organizations is navigating the adoption of AI and automation technologies while also assisting local newsrooms. Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Briggs joins Nikita Roy to discuss the core components necessary for building an AI-ready newsroom culture. Mark also shares the findings of a recent survey on audience perceptions of using AI in news.Mark is the author of the widely-used book 'Journalism Next,' now in its fourth edition and used in colleges across the United States. He was a leadership and change management professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, for six years. He will now teach a course on entrepreneurial journalism at the University of Washington in the fall. Mark has spent the past two decades championing digital transformation and innovation in the world of news.Tune in to hear Mark’s insights on how to prepare your newsroom for the AI revolution.Referenced in the episode: PoisedOasis AIThoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.