Minnesota journalists: Start developing that dream project you've been dying to launch
From analyzing public data to spotting patterns in community feedback, AI tools are opening new possibilities for local journalism.
This hands-on interactive session will dig into the spaces where AI can save time and resources, freeing you to work smarter, engage more effectively with your community and find new revenue sources.
The workshop kicks off three days of collaborations among journalists, computer programmers and community members hosted by the Minnesota Journalism Center in conjunction with Hacks/Hackers. We're inviting groups to come together to build new tools to make our communities stronger, more connected and more informed.
- Where: Minneapolis Marriott Northwest -- Brooklyn Park, Minn.
- When: 1:30 - 5 p.m. (with an optional luncheon at noon and an optional reception from 5:30-6:30 p.m.)
- Who should join: All Minnesota journalists -- from any type of news organization -- who are curious about the potential role for AI tools in their newsrooms
- Cost: $25; free for journalists who work in nonprofit news and public media (use code Hack130)
- How to RSVP:
- MNA members: Register for the workshop when you register for the MNA convention
- All others: Register here
We are hosting Designing The Future of News in conjunction with the Minnesota Newspaper Association's annual convention in the Twin Cities, but the event is open to journalists from any type of news organization and all across the state. We hope you'll join us!
What to expect from the session
We'll begin the workshop by hearing from some local news organizations about how they're using AI -- and if they're not yet using it, how they're beginning to think about it.
Then we'll bring participants together to identify opportunities to use AI in their news organizations' operations, reporting and workflows. We'll identify the types of work that AI is good at, and participants will develop ideas around applications of AI use in their news organizations.
Some of those ideas could form the basis of projects developed during the two-day hackathon on the University of Minnesota's campus Friday (Jan. 31) and Saturday (Feb. 1).
How to prepare
We encourage journalists to think about the issues that keep them up at night; the workflow challenges that make basic newsroom functions onerous; the data and access that seem just out of reach enough to be too big to tackle -- and the Big Dream projects that they just don't feel as though they have the time or capacity to launch.
Think: Coverage, workflow, accountability, process, story presentation, metrics, community building and beyond.
More about the MJC's AI + Local News Hackathon weekend
Every journalist has that project they'd love to tackle if they had the time and resources: A tool for planning and slotting stories that connects to existing systems ... a statewide reporting tool that gathers and summarizes data from multiple sources ... an internal way to automatically measure stories' impacts across their lifespan ... a way to gather meeting notes from disparate government organizations ... the lists are endless.
That's where the Minnesota Journalism Center comes in: We're inviting journalists from across the state to join us in January to help make some of those dream projects a reality, with the help of community members, technologists and students from across the University of Minnesota.
Find out more about all of the AI + Local News hackathon weekend events here.
Partners and sponsors
The AI + Local News Hackathon weekend is presented by Hacks/Hackers, the Minnesota Journalism Center, The Poynter Institute, Trusting News and the MacArthur foundation.
Hacks/Hackers unites diverse communities to advance media innovation and foster public trust in the information ecosystem.
The Minnesota Journalism Center supports a more vibrant, equitable, and sustainable ecosystem for journalism in Minnesota through educational initiatives, applied research and engagement with newsrooms and journalists across the state.
Questions?
Contact Meg Martin ([email protected]) or Ben Toff ([email protected]) for more about the MJC's AI + Local News events and how to get involved. We hope to see you there!
Minneapolis Marriott Northwest (Brooklyn Park, Minn.)