European Federation of Journalists

Workshop: Robot Journalism – Should we be afraid?


Registration opens for the upcoming MediaRoad event

Robot “journalism” is already the reality in many newsrooms churning out content faster than we can consume. News organisations are increasingly experimenting with robot journalism using computer programmes to analyse data and produce news stories because robots are more productive.

But how much do we know about these robots behind the news? Are they friends or foes of journalists? Should journalists be afraid or take advantage of the technology to improve their working conditions and quality of journalism?

This workshop will focus on these questions and explore the pros and cons of robot journalism, the existing practices and the impact on journalists, especially on working conditions, ethics and quality. Experts on robot journalism, journalists, media managers, representatives of journalists’ organisations and media will gather in this workshop for the debate.

The workshop will be held on 5 June 2018, in Lisbon. The organising MediaRoad partner, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), has co-located the event with the EFJ annual meeting (6-7 June 2018).

A detailed program will be published soon on the event page.

REGISTRATION HERE

There are no costs for registering for this workshop, but please be advised that travel and accommodation cost for participation will be borne by the participants. Once you have received the confirmation from the organiser, we recommend you proceed to arrange your travel and accommodation immediately as demand for hotels in Lisbon is very high during this period.

For further questions please contact stagiaire@europeanjournalists.org and events@mediaroad.eu

Robot journalism – Should we be afraid?

Should we be afraid of robot journalism? Belgian journalist, Laurence Dierickx, has just dedicated her thesis on this question at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) asked her to share the result of her research which highlights the ability of robots in producing objective, accurate and comprehensive news stories, however, they may not be as readable those written by real journalists. Here is her article and we guarantee you that this one was not written by a robot.