For the last few years, third-party technology firms have been helping newsrooms become more automated. A recent study, however, found that newsroom automation is being adopted slowly due to the scarcity of resources and skilled journalists in the news organizations.
The study relied on interviews with officials of big data science companies that have news organizations as clients.
Three researchers, led by Dr. Wu Shangyuan of Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University, conducted the study using the in-depth interview method on 10 personnel from six big data science and technology companies in Singapore.
The respondents said their technology is useful to news organizations, which is empowering journalists in newsrooms and helping them do their jobs at ease.
“Journalists will be able to react more quickly to issues when machines help them to break down the information,” stated the study.
The respondents said automation frees up the journalists to spend more time on in-depth stories. Automation also helps news organizations by providing more content for less money.
Respondents shared that they are aware of the crises surrounding the field of journalism, including the decline in revenue, loss of public trusts, and increased commercialization of the news industry.
The journalists, the respondents said, are helping the technological firms by promoting brand images.
To read more: https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2019.1585198
Wu, S., Tandoc Jr, E. C., & Salmon, C. T. (2019). When journalism and automation intersect: Assessing the influence of the technological field on contemporary newsrooms. Journalism Practice, 13(10), 1238-1254.
