Alma Media researches automation in local newspapers

Swedish School of Social Science has received a grant from Media Industry Research Foundation of Finland for the development of automated news production in local newspapers in 2016. Carl-Gustav Lindén is the manager of the project that will be implemented together with Alma Aluemedia. 

“The idea is to develop tools for the production of more news at a local level. The same topic can vary depending on the area and context. Various statistics from unemployment and crime to swimming water quality can be used as aids.

Creating a sense of community is one of the purposes of local newspapers, and it can also be promoted with automation.

“Community spirit can be created with data about a certain sport, for example, and the phenomenon can be commercially exploited. You can create all sorts of services around this data – the only limit is your imagination.”

Alma is interested in studying robotics as part of data journalism.

The research project will serve as a starting shot, and the first phase will be about regional and local newspapers and some other consumer services. Kari Hurtola, development manager with Alma, is in charge of the entire project.

“At Alma we want to contribute to the development of effective methods and tools to enrich contents and create new products. For journalism and journalists, robotics provides an opportunity, not a threat,” Hurtola says.

“By boosting data mining from various sources and combining the results, we will have more time to concentrate on conclusions and analyses. This will make deeper and better journalism.”

Read more: 
Google to support Alma Media’s financial journalism development project
News produced by Algorithms

Share article