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The Scripps Howard Foundation is giving $2 million to the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland and Arizona State University to empower journalists with artificial intelligence tools. The three-year grants will allow the Howard Centers to test and pilot several AI tools that support local news.
The foundation established the Howard Centers in 2018 to honor the legacy of Roy W. Howard, former chairman of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain and a pioneering news reporter whose relentless pursuit of the news took him around the world, spurred innovation and helped lay the groundwork for modern journalism. The Howard Centers train the next generation of investigative reporters by producing national caliber investigative projects in partnership with faculty and news organizations across the U.S.
The University of Maryland will use the $1 million grant to develop a series of AI products:
The Beat Book: The Beat Book will employ artificial intelligence to help local news organizations assess and improve coverage of their communities. Using AI methodologies, the Beat Book will scour a cooperating publication’s archives to identify how that publication has covered a particular beat in the past. The AI Reporter’s Tool Box: An idea initially developed by students at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, the Tool Box will use AI and other machine learning technology to make the reporters’ workflows – such as transcribing an interview – more efficient and their reporting more accurate. AI Meeting Watchdog: This AI system would monitor live-streaming video of government meetings and provide timely notifications of newsworthy events,