AI-Powered Editorial Systems and Organizational Changes

Journalists work with editorial systems daily, using them to process their articles, communicate with colleagues, and produce and archive content. Yet even though editorial systems are the heart and backbone of the journalistic process, they are 'underexposed' within innovation processes and journalistic research. This is remarkable, because technological developments, especially the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI), promises numerous opportunities for revitalizing editorial systems, as well as new (hybrid) ways of working, and needs to be considered in terms of redesigning existing editorial systems and workflows. In the research undertaken in this initiative, a mixed group of software engineers, AI experts, and journalism and design researchers, collectively referred to as the 'The Editorial Portal' was assembled at the Netherland's Fontys University of Applied Sciences. This group was tasked with investigating opportunities for a future-orientated editorial system in which both organizational and technological transformations were considered. The study was undertaken with the understanding that design methods, including context mapping, were suitable for identifying the relationship between editorial system, corporate culture, and future developments. As it was felt that working professionals should be involved, journalists from four Dutch regional newsrooms were also consulted in this study. They identified a need for a more intelligent system that encourages collaborative and creative working methods. © 2002 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.