Robot Journalism's Implicit Threats to Traditional Journalism

The article, Robot Journalism doesn't sound so scary, explores the vision of Narrative Science, a company that programs computers to utilize and employ algorithms for the purpose of taking on a human journalist's job, and claims that its algorithmic journalism will one day reel in the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. While it isn't scary at first thought, since the type of articles that the algorithm-based journalism produces are a set of unengaging and uninteresting facts(see example below), Narrative Science's co-founder Kristian Hammond has given journalists a reason to worry. Claiming that his robots will win the Pulitzer within the next five years, while stating that bots will write more than 90 percent of the news in 15 years, Hammond's vision of what journalism may become is a disconcerting one.

Hammond's robots take complex sets of data and turn them into news stories. While his seemingly ingenious concept algorithmically unscrambles complicated data to publish articles speedily and precisely, it sacrifices content of interest and critical analysis. Look below for an example of what these bots produce:

What to Expect:

Analysts are expecting earnings of 2 cents per share, exactly the same as a year ago.

The consensus estimate is down from three months ago when it was 6 cents, but is unchanged over the past month. For the fiscal year, analysts are projecting earnings of 65 cents per share

Analysts look for revenue to decrease 11.7% year-over-year to $500.3 million for the quarter,  after being $566.5 million a year ago. For the year, revenue is projected to roll in at $2.08 billion

Trends to Watch For:

For the last four quarters, the company has reported revenue decline. Revenue in fourth quarter of the last fiscal year was $643 million, a drop of 2.8% year-over-year. Revenue dropped 3.1% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, fell 2.2% in second quarter of the last fiscal year and 3.6% in the first quarter of the last fiscal year.

If you've read the information above, you can determine that there is no real context, analysis, prose, puns or humorous use of register. Thus, the not very engaging text is not all that threatening to journalism right? Or is it? On one side, it can "offer an innovative and cost-effective solution that allows publishers to cover topics that can’t otherwise be covered due to operational or cost constraints,"(Source: We Transform Data into Stories and Insight) which allows human journalists to focus on producing interesting journalism while leaving the data to be monetized and understood precisely by machines. In this case, the growth of digital journalism can be aided in more ways than one. However, robotic journalism poses an ever-growing threat to the concept of traditional journalism by providing useful and easily accessible information to normal, citizen bloggers who can employ the data to create their own news stories, ultimately continuing to put print journalists out of work.

The concept of Narrative Science's robotic journalism strikes up an interesting, new perspective on the ongoing conflict between traditional print journalism and digital journalism. Whereas the endless mobile applications and social media outlets have given cause for concern towards the death of traditional journalism, robotic algorithms that process and organize sets of complex data bring a new concern; one that questions whether or not humans will even be involved in journalism, digital or traditional, for the years to come. On a brighter note, these machines are ultimately making human journalists step up their game. It is strengthening their convictions, something that machines simply do not possess.

The Newsies Paradox

On April 23rd, 2012, YouTube user Nick Pitera (username goonieman86) uploaded his "One Man Newsies" medley, which has already received over 87,000 hits in the last five days. Pitera is a YouTube celebrity of sorts, with over 95 million combined video views, the bulk majority of which come from videos of him singing covers of popular songs with intensely layered vocals. This latest video strikes an interesting chord, however, as it uses 21st century technology (known for its user generated content) to transmit a self-made arrangement of songs from a new Broadway show adapted from a 1992 film based on a strike held by newspaper boys in 1899. With so many media industries intertwined in its backstory, why is Newsies so popular with a new generation so completely removed form the very concept of a newspaper boy?

In 1899, the newspaper boys of New York City jointed together to protest against Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Heart, two newspaper tycoons who had implemented cost increases for their publications during the Spanish-American War. These newspaper boys roamed the streets, shouting headlines and selling newspapers to pedestrians. This form of distribution, once a common occurrence, slowly evolved into the more familiar imagery of the suburban newspaper delivery boy on his bicycle. Nowadays, however, many individuals turn to the Internet to read their daily news, and those who still have print subscriptions often receive papers which are thrown out of car windows by delivery drivers in the early hours of the morning.

In her article entitled "'Newsies' Is a Relic of a Journalism Past", Barbara Chai writes about the show's inclusion of an actual antique printing press, used in a song near the end of the second act. Used in context as a means for the newsies to print fliers to publicize their strike, younger viewers might very well have no idea as to what the printing press is, or how it works. And in some ways, the technology itself isn't what Newsies is all about. With the story full of action and romance, and the stage filled with choreography and singing, the function of the newspaper itself is merely one piece of a broader puzzle.

The final paradoxical aspect of Newsies new Broadway run is the ways in which the show is actively being promoted. With guest appearances and song performances on The View and Good Morning America, as well as a website, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook page, the promotional team behind the show has gone to great lengths to make sure that Newsies is fully represented on media avenues that many attribute to the downfall of print journalism in the first place. Thus, while it may be over 100 years too late, perhaps the newsies have finally seen their dream of crippling the newspaper giants come to fruition, albeit through much more unprecedented means.

Pulitzer Passes up Fiction.

Last week's Pulitzer Prize winners made history in more ways than one. As discussed by Professor Elizabeth Losh of UCSD, two of the awards for journalism went to unconventional media forms who mimicked traditional models in many respects. These recipients were ground breaking in their own right, however safe enough to settle well with the journalism community.
While the awards welcomed non-traditional journalism into the arena, another category was unexpectedly shunned.

Fiction.

"No award" was given in the fiction genre this year despite three promising finalists. In a recent segment of NPR's On the Media past Pulitzer judge Laura Miller discusses the implications of this decision and the effects it could have on the fiction genre. Miller notes that often winning a Pulitzer for fiction is a motivation to fiction writers every where, serving as a beacon of hope in an elitist industry.


What does this mean for the already shaken fiction writing industry, struggling for attention among an over stimulated audience with a multitude of literary options? Is fiction not getting the recognition it deserves?

Historically, winning the Pulitzer Prize has great impact of the future success of the author giving them credibility, accolades and notoriety.

Does this in turn have an opposite effect on those who are not chosen?

This decisions certainly raises some interesting discussion about the state of literature, specifically fiction, and perhaps a lack of originality or dynamic thought among contributing authors.

It seems that not presenting an award for fiction says more about the current fiction climate than rewarding mediocrity.

The Next Era of Journalism?

With the development of new technology, journalism is changing rapidly day by day. No longer do we sit down and read a copy of the newspaper, instead, we are able to read news articles on our iPhone, IPad, and laptop. The trend of digital journalism is obvious and evident- even the Pulitzer award recognizes the great influence of digital journalism this year.

The article Pulitzer Honors Digital Journalism from the Harvard Crimson calls to attention of this year's Pulitzer Prize. Online news organizations such as the Huffington Post and Politico won the awards. This is a big deal for journalists around the world as Pulitzer is considered as the “Oscar of journalism industry”. The article argues that the Huffington Post and Politico are awarded not necessarily for their way of presenting news but instead of their contents which in close look are still quite conservative.

This year's Pulitzer Prize may give great comfort and hope to digital journalists, but many still raise doubts about digital journalism and its capability of reporting quality news. Digital journalism often takes advantage of social media such as Tweeter, Facebook, and online blogs to gather information. As the article mentioned, the Huffington Post has often receive criticism for over-using social media outlets as a news source.

The question here is are we willing to sacrifice efficiency for quality journalism? Digital journalism is no doubt becoming the trend right now. However, are we getting quality news online? This question remains ambiguous but at the mean time let's celebrate what digital journalism has brought to us. 

 Ashley Huang