BBC News is about creating new departments that use AI to deliver more personalized content. This is because the leader said that businesses will “defend gravity” as they reach their audiences amid the earthquake changes in how news is consumed.
In a note to staff seen by the Guardian, BBC News CEO Deborah Turnness announced an overhaul of the organization’s structure, including creating a new division, creating BBC News Growth, Innovation and AI. With the major shift towards news consumption on platforms like smartphones and Tiktok, we will focus on under the age of 25.
Turnes said companies must act quickly to combat a series of headwinds, including “growth trends in news avoidance, growth in news consumption on social platforms, increased digital competition, and an inevitable decline in broadcasting.”
It is understood that measurement involves deploying AI to curate the stories of mobile phone users in a way that suits the way they are used to consuming content that comes with social media.
“We have to be relentlessly focused on understanding the needs of our audiences, the kind of journalism and content they want, where they want, and designing and producing them in a way that they enjoy it,” Turnes said.
“We need to do this on a platform that offers best-in-class consumer experiences, providing personalisation, recommendations and unique user journeys. We also need to deploy AI to support, enable and accelerate innovation and growth.”
The full-scale news organization is working on how AI is deployed. Some outlets are already going even further, using technology to summarise articles and rewrite articles for a wide range of audiences. However, a recent BBC study of key AI assistants has found that they tend to create distortions, factual inaccuracies and misleading content in response to questions about news and current events.
Companies previously pledged that AI use is “always in line with the values of public services,” and should never undermine the trust of their audiences and must always be used in a way that “aligns with the BBC editorial values of accuracy, fairness, equity and privacy.”
In her note, Turnness said the change was part of a plan to “restructure BBC News” and was designed to reach the widest audience possible, regardless of where and how we find us.” The overhaul also includes creating a second new division, BBC Live and Daily News. She said that its arrival marks the end of the “traditional newsroom silo” and that it will ensure that content generated by the newsroom works on all platforms, including traditional bulletin, online, and BBC news apps.
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She said staff member BBC News is eliminating the out-of-reach gravity by “operating in a fiercely competitive digital environment and combating the decline in long-term broadcasts as viewers’ habits change.” She revealed that the BBC News app has overtaken Apple News as the No. 1 UK news app, despite the Apple app being pre-installed on all iPhones.
The director will be appointed to the new growth, innovation and AI departments to work with the news boss to “develop, deliver and test critical investments and innovations and measure their impact on consumers.”
