News Corp Australia has significantly increased its news production capabilities, generating 3,000 AI-powered articles weekly.
These articles, covering hyperlocal topics like weather updates, fuel prices, and traffic reports, are part of an initiative by the Data Local team to support content across the company’s 75 hyperlocal mastheads.
Under the guidance of Peter Judd, News Corp’s data journalism editor, the AI automates routine news reporting tasks, enabling the media giant to maintain a high volume of content output. Although these articles are AI-generated, human journalists oversee the final content to ensure accuracy and credibility, maintaining journalistic standards despite the absence of AI disclosure in the articles themselves.
The AI-generated content primarily provides service information such as local fuel price updates, court listings, and traffic and weather reports. This approach helps keep the local community informed and supports daily updates that might be labor-intensive for human reporters to handle consistently.
Michael Miller, News Corp Australia’s executive chair, shared at the World News Media Congress in Taipei that local news content significantly contributes to the company’s subscription growth. He noted that 55% of News Corp’s subscriptions are driven by hyperlocal news, bolstered by adding 24 new digital-only mastheads.
The adoption of AI for news generation by News Corp reflects a broader trend within the Australian media landscape. While other organizations are exploring AI to enhance content accessibility, News Corp’s use of AI for content creation highlights the technology’s potential to reshape news production, addressing efficiency while posing new challenges in content authenticity and journalistic practice.