Neil Thurman: Automating (local) journalism: Exploring audiences’ perceptions and preferences

The automation of news texts is maturing. The topics covered are expanding to include both softer (e.g. lifestyle) and harder (e.g. watchdog) news. Not only quantitative but also qualitative content (such as quotes) are being included. Hybrid production models are emerging, with reporters post-editing initially automated pieces. And the use of automated news is spreading to smaller, local news organisations as it becomes a commodity sold by news agencies. The first part of this lecture will describe these developments. The second will explore audiences’ perceptions of, and preferences for, journalism produced this way, with evidence drawn from group interviews in which participants were exposed to a range of news stories produced with varying degrees of automation (and none). The results show a complex and interwoven set of perception criteria that can be grouped into four categories: antecedents of perceptions, emotional and cognitive impacts, article composition, and news and editorial values.

Prof. Dr. Neil Thurman ist Professor für Kommunikationswissenschaft an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.