© Christian Tate
Corporate ownership of 90 percent of media outlets in the United States has made the term 'mainstream journalist' quite the oxymoron, but the
Washington Post's newest project eliminates 'journalist' from the equation entirely —
robots are now writing the outlet's 'news.' Using artificial intelligence technology,
the Washington Post is 'employing' software to 'write' hundreds of news briefs highlighting key information about the Olympic Games in Rio in real-time.
"'Heliograf,' which was developed in-house, automatically generates short, multi-sentence updates for readers,"
the Post proudly announced Friday,
as if the news organization couldn't predict the collective American jaw-drop at the notion a computer could simply replace a longstanding tradition of actual journalism.
"Automated storytelling has the potential to transform the
Post's coverage," explained Jeremy Gilbert, director of strategic initiatives at the
Washington Post, in what could easily be deemed the understatement of the year. "More stories, powered by data and machine learning, will lead to a dramatically more personal and customized news experience.
"The Olympics are the perfect way to prove the potential of this technology. In 2014, the sports staff spent countless hours manually publishing event results. Heliograf will free up
Post reporters and editors to add analysis, color from the scene and real insight to stories in ways only they can."
Comment: Journalistic integrity has already become a mockery in the New American Century, and now that robots are 'informing' the masses, it's become downright absurd. Welcome to the next stage in smashing whatever consciousness remains within the American public to smithereens.
Be sure to check out the John Oliver video above for an accurate view of the how media owners view their responsibility of reporting the news. Here's a transcript of an excerpt Oliver's show collected showing media mongrel Sam Zell in an exchange with a photographer:
Zell: "I want to make enough money so that I can afford you. You need to in effect help me by being a journalist that focuses on what our readers want that generates more revenue."
Fajardo: "What readers want are puppy dogs; we also need to inform the community."
Zell: "I'm sorry but you're giving me the classic, what I would call, journalistic arrogance by deciding that puppies don't count. . . . What I'm interested in is how can we generate additional interest in our products and additional revenue so we can make our product better and better and hopefully we get to the point where our revenue is so significant that we can do puppies and Iraq. F**k y**."
Comment: Journalistic integrity has already become a mockery in the New American Century, and now that robots are 'informing' the masses, it's become downright absurd. Welcome to the next stage in smashing whatever consciousness remains within the American public to smithereens.
Be sure to check out the John Oliver video above for an accurate view of the how media owners view their responsibility of reporting the news. Here's a transcript of an excerpt Oliver's show collected showing media mongrel Sam Zell in an exchange with a photographer: