There’s no escaping the use of technology in newsgathering, production and analysis of outcomes, but disparities in adoption and fears of this evolution’s whiplash are the make or break of today’s media.
CNN's Samuel Burke on technology's advantages (Abu-Fadil)
Enter bots, automated editing and other technological enablers that experts discussed at this year’s Global Editors Network summit, with many admitting they’re trailing and need to catch the wave.
One shouldn’t despair, according to CNN’s business and technology correspondent Samuel Burke who demonstrated how technology was making our lives better, and drew on several of his reports to prove it.
“Does it help journalists?” he asked rhetorically.
Screen shot of Samuel Burke's first date with a robot
Most definitely, as with CNN’s drone footage showing destruction in the war-torn Iraqi city of Mosul and other hard-to-reach conflict zones where correspondents are unable to tread.
Burke, a former producer for Christiane Amanpour, ran several video clips showing how technology can be used effectively and incorporated into journalism.
One cute example was of his first date with a humanoid robot called Pepper who doesn’t like to talk politics but loves music and dancing and who shared intelligent conversation with him.
More serious reports focused on game changers like glasses that read for the legally blind, and an Apple Watch app that controls hearing aids.
Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron and CNN's Samuel Burke (Abu-Fadil)
Beyond bells and whistles, Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron struck an ominous note about digital outlets that spread falsehoods and dangerous conspiracy theories, and poisoned the media environment.
“Their aim is to promote preferred ideologies and political interests, to undermine confidence in traditional media and even to sabotage an array of other institutions that have been pillars of democracy,” he said.
Baron pointed to US President Donald Trump who, he said, had displayed an aggressive hostility toward the mainstream press to inoculate himself from criticism.
“There's a lot of work to do,” he added about the Post that had made rapid digital progress and delivered quality journalism without being stuffy, and the paper’s plan to produce more videos in 2017.
“New platforms require us to think quickly... to customize content to each new e-platform.”
GEN Summit 2017 in Vienna (Abu-Fadil)
In addition to CNN and The Washington Post, GEN’s two-and-a-half day summit grouped luminaries from Google, Facebook, Twitter, the Financial Times, ESPN, News Republic, Buzzfeed, and Storyful, as well as academics, related industry firms, and futurists.
It was dubbed “From Post-Truth to Virtual Reality: Navigating Media’s Future,” and provided a rich smorgasbord of panels, workshops (like unleashing the power of podcasting), and masterclasses that asked if one’s newsroom was ready for artificial intelligence (AI) to 750+ participants.
GEN 2017 Summit booklet (Abu-Fadil)
Richard Gingras, Google’s head of news, said the Internet had changed everything and that his firm’s mission was to organize that web of information.
“The Web would not have evolved without free speech,” he opined, noting that affirmation was more satisfying than information. To Gingras, democracies succeed by the ability to cover divergent views accurately.
Since day one, Google has worked to contain fake and offensive news but nobody wants Google to be the arbiter of truth, he said.
GEN President Peter Bale and International Press Institute Executive Director Barbara Trionfi (Abu-Fadil)
“We should be careful what we ask governments to do,” he cautioned. “Journalism’s mission is to provide tools to be good citizens.”
Several speakers also called for promotion of media, particularly news, literacy to help audiences better comprehend and evaluate what they’re consuming and how their decisions are based on their information intake.
Hearst Newspapers' VP-Executive Editor David Ho on rebooting newsrooms for smartphones (Abu-Fadil)
David Ho, Vice President and Executive Editor at Hearst Newspapers, https://www.hearst.com/newspapers digital, preached the mantra of mobile, saying everyone agrees it’s important but not everybody understands it in a fundamental way.
To Ho, a big advocate of native apps, mobile-friendly web pages are a necessity; the one-platform world is dead; news is an experience and the device is part of the story; mobile is social, and social is mobile; and if a graphic doesn’t work on a phone, it doesn’t work.
In a real mobile-first landscape, Ho advised participants to plan, think, and see mobile at the start of every effort.
Politibot in startups for news competition (Abu-Fadil)
It wasn’t all media giants sharing views and experiences or promoting their brands and modus operandi.
Ambitious startups – eight, in fact - also pitched their wares in a GEN news competition.
Contender Politibot, for example, said it allows news organizations to engage with their audiences, personalize their experiences, and extract value from them.
The winner received private mentorship from GEN’s board members, was promised a stand at the GEN Expo 2018, and exposure to its network of media innovators.