Cecilia Campbell | United Robots
Newsroom resources are limited. Local stories are endless — particularly if you want to cover all the community information that local readers expect. This is the problem United Robots is helping local U.S. newsrooms solve by providing automated content based on local data. So even though the articles are generated by a robot, the content is unique, factual and local — creating value for local readers, and a reason for them to come back to the news site.
This is not about replacing reporters. It's about complementing the quality journalism reporters do. It’s about providing more valuable community information, in one place — local information that would be hard to find anywhere else.
This is not generative AI. United Robots builds robots using rule-based AI and quality data to create short editorial texts. The texts, when delivered to a publisher’s CMS with images and metadata tags, are ready for publication. Thanks to the quality data and predictable AI we use, the texts can go straight onto local news sites, saving time in the newsroom too.
Actual use cases — examples
Below are some publisher cases which illustrate how the automated content solves problems for local newsrooms — and local readers. Some are from the U.S., some from Scandinavia, the two main markets United Robots serves.
- Provide more information, filling gaps in topic reporting — Robots can cover stories about house sales and local sports (for example), allowing publishers to improve their service to local readers, by providing more hyper-local information on popular topics. More stories, closer to home. Example: McClatchy
- Speed & 24/7 coverage of live events — Our weather and natural disaster alerts in the U.S. (extreme weather, hurricanes, wildfires and soon earthquakes), mean local publishers can keep readers informed instantly of evolving events, even when the newsroom is unmanned. The automated updates also mean the journalists who are working can focus on-the-ground reporting. Example: Advance Local.
- Launch a vertical — Use automated content about sports or real estate (for example) as the bulk content, with reporters' stories on top, to create a niche online property, with possible ad revenue (including at a premium due to context) and audience development. Example: Klackspark
- Expand into new/adjacent geographies — Automated content provides a good foundation of content if you want to expand your coverage into adjacent communities or completely new markets. It's the same logic as the niche vertical. Robots and reporters are working together, with the robot focusing on volumes and speed; reporters on journalism. Example: Aftonbladet, Sweden (a national site which has launched in local markets, but the model would be the same for local media groups).
If you want to learn more about how automated content could support your local journalism and business, please get in touch with cecilia.campbell@unitedrobots.se.
