The Press Association (PA), the national news agency for the UK and Ireland, has been awarded over $800K to build software that can automate the writing of 30,000 local stories a month. Dubbed RADAR (Reporters And Data And Robots), the project aims to automate local reporting with large public databases from government agencies or local law enforcement, robotizing the work of reporters.



PA and Urbs Media have been offered the funds for RADAR – Reporters And Data And Robots – a new service which will create up to 30,000 localized stories each month from open data sets. RADAR is intended to meet the increasing demand for consistent, fact-based insights into local communities, for the benefit of established regional media outlets, as well as the growing sector of independent publishers, hyperlocal outlets and bloggers. RADAR will see journalists identifying national open databases from government departments, local authorities, NHS Trusts and more, and creating detailed story templates across a range of topics including crime, health and employment.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Google Funds New Software Project That Will Automate Writing Local News