Turing’s Test 105
of the quality of the content when separated by the writer, although Ryan
himself had also demonstrated the very means by which professionalisation of the cultural industries themselves could lead to such a very
degradation, by enabling professional editors to rewrite contributions
and add their own byline.
21
The author’s intrinsic link to their copy has
often been a tenuous one in the field of journalism, and there have always been exceptions to the moral rights of authors, when reporting on
current events, for example. That ability to anonymise and rewrite copy
has already, as Cohen observes with reference to Ross, seen a “fast-food
revolution in content” in the first years of the twenty-first century.
22
Authors such as Carlson and Cohen present a rather pessimistic view of
the future of journalism in the time of automation. The fast-food revolution in content is certainly with us, but then it always has been, just not in
such easily accessible quantities. The yellow press, muckraking journalism, sensationalism – such terms were not invented in the digital age, and
humans have always proved themselves capable of producing content that
makes readers salivate at the mouths while leaving their minds empty.
Indeed, it would be tempting to argue that in the field of automated journalism at least if not automated gatekeeping (which, as we have seen in
the last chapter, is currently too easily gamed), it is too labour-intensive to
create the data required to feed robot writers. Only a small proportion of
news types can currently be automated, but in those areas, it could be that
a reliance on algorithmic journalism converting data into narratives without spin could provide a welcome return to more authoritative material.
Even then, editors have an important role to play: one of the fundamental
ethical questions of automated journalism – the decision as whether or
not to reveal the full byline of software-generated stories (which had led
to the decline of Journatic) – is a question of human judgement. As Montal and Reich point out, disclosure transparency – who wrote the story –
and algorithmic transparency –the processes and data sources that feed
into such content – lie in the hands of media organisations to disclose or
not.
23
In the short term, companies have been tempted to be opaque because of the perceived disquiet on the part of their audiences, but such a
strategy, as the example of Journatic demonstrated, can lead to disastrous
consequences in the longer term. As such, Montal and Reich are correct
to identify what they call the occupational threats offered by automated
journalism, but other elements are not so clearly negative.
The Tow Center report by Graefe attempts to map out as comprehensively as possible the ways in which automated journalism could affect the
next generation of content production by considering the following areas:
• Market phase: The arrival and deployment of automated journalism, in particular by Associated Press, which indicates that it will
remain a factor in content provision for the foreseeable future.
• Conditions and drivers: The circumstances that enable automated journalism, in particular with regard to the requirement for structured data.
of the quality of the content when separated by the writer, although Ryan
himself had also demonstrated the very means by which professionalisation of the cultural industries themselves could lead to such a very
degradation, by enabling professional editors to rewrite contributions
and add their own byline.
21
The author’s intrinsic link to their copy has
often been a tenuous one in the field of journalism, and there have always been exceptions to the moral rights of authors, when reporting on
current events, for example. That ability to anonymise and rewrite copy
has already, as Cohen observes with reference to Ross, seen a “fast-food
revolution in content” in the first years of the twenty-first century.
22
Authors such as Carlson and Cohen present a rather pessimistic view of
the future of journalism in the time of automation. The fast-food revolution in content is certainly with us, but then it always has been, just not in
such easily accessible quantities. The yellow press, muckraking journalism, sensationalism – such terms were not invented in the digital age, and
humans have always proved themselves capable of producing content that
makes readers salivate at the mouths while leaving their minds empty.
Indeed, it would be tempting to argue that in the field of automated journalism at least if not automated gatekeeping (which, as we have seen in
the last chapter, is currently too easily gamed), it is too labour-intensive to
create the data required to feed robot writers. Only a small proportion of
news types can currently be automated, but in those areas, it could be that
a reliance on algorithmic journalism converting data into narratives without spin could provide a welcome return to more authoritative material.
Even then, editors have an important role to play: one of the fundamental
ethical questions of automated journalism – the decision as whether or
not to reveal the full byline of software-generated stories (which had led
to the decline of Journatic) – is a question of human judgement. As Montal and Reich point out, disclosure transparency – who wrote the story –
and algorithmic transparency –the processes and data sources that feed
into such content – lie in the hands of media organisations to disclose or
not.
23
In the short term, companies have been tempted to be opaque because of the perceived disquiet on the part of their audiences, but such a
strategy, as the example of Journatic demonstrated, can lead to disastrous
consequences in the longer term. As such, Montal and Reich are correct
to identify what they call the occupational threats offered by automated
journalism, but other elements are not so clearly negative.
The Tow Center report by Graefe attempts to map out as comprehensively as possible the ways in which automated journalism could affect the
next generation of content production by considering the following areas:
• Market phase: The arrival and deployment of automated journalism, in particular by Associated Press, which indicates that it will
remain a factor in content provision for the foreseeable future.
• Conditions and drivers: The circumstances that enable automated journalism, in particular with regard to the requirement for structured data.