Media Insider: Robot Reporters, Freelancer Platforms, and More Media Moves

Welcome to Around the Wire, PR Newswire’s round up of journalism, blogging and freelancing stories from the week.

Photo by Kevan used under CC BY 2.0

Robot Reporter Wordsmith Begins its Advance (Politico New York)

The age of robot writing is officially upon us with the launch of Automated Insight’s ‘Wordsmith’, which “enables anyone with data to turn that data into narratives without humans having to write them.” According to the website, this program uses “natural language generation” to create readable content out of raw data. Here is a good introduction into the innovative and free tool, which according to Automated Insights C.E.O. Robbie Allen “is not to replace journalists, but to create more content more quickly.”

Freelance Journalists, Meet Freelance Platforms: Together You Might Rock (MediaShift)

A great piece for anyone interested in finding the perfect platform to share their writing. The author presents several up-and-coming platforms in an informative way that allows readers to find the one that covers their needs, be it sharing more media based projects or connecting with editors and publishers. Platforms discussed include The Washington Posts’s Talent Network, Brooklyn-based startup Blink, and Storyful, among others.

Hearst’s Lee Wilkinson on Transforming Your Brand to Succeed in the Mobile Age (The Media Briefing)

It’s no secret that more and more users are absorbing news through their mobile phones. In fact, a recent report from The Pew Research Center proves this, which is why driving traffic through mobile devices is vital to newsrooms. This piece covers Lee Wilkinson’s presentation at Monetising Media 2015, where he offered insights on how to take advantage of mobile use by focusing on the product rather than the device. The three aspects he insists publishers should consider in order to garner more mobile readership: knowing the audience, recognizing the changes in distribution and increasing quality. “That return to quality of product will obviously drive subscriptions for those who rely on them,” the article concludes.

4 Ideas Journalism Can Borrow from Libraries (Poynter)

An intriguing and amusing look into what journalists and publishers can learn from libraries, which continue to reinvent themselves in order to stay relevant. The best suggestion (in my opinion, anyway) is the idea of “creating a Passport for News,” allowing people to measure and analyze their news consumption or “analytics for the user” – something that may interest advertisers and publications, as well.

Media News and Moves for the Week of October 19 (PR Newswire’s Media Moves)

Media Moves keeps you up to date with who went where in the world of media. This week a promotion at NBC News takes place, several meteorologists join The Weather Channel and Newsweek gains a consumer tech reporter.

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Stephanie de Ruiter is an audience researcher with PR Newswire keeping up with media moves throughout the nation with a focus on blogs and online publications.