From Data Journalism to Artificial IntelligenceChallenges Faced by La Nación in Implementing Computer Vision in News Reporting

  1. de-Lima-Santos, Mathias-Felipe 1
  2. Salaverría, Ramón 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Navarra
    info

    Universidad de Navarra

    Pamplona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02rxc7m23

Journal:
Palabra Clave

ISSN: 2027-534X 0122-8285

Year of publication: 2021

Issue Title: Latin American perspectives on datafication and artificial intelligence

Volume: 24

Issue: 3

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5294/PACLA.2021.24.3.7 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: Palabra Clave

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

Journalism is at a radical point of change that requires organizations to come up with new ideas and formats for news reporting. Additionally, the notable surge of data, sensors and technological advances in the mobile segment has brought immeasurable benefits to many fields of journalistic practice (data journalism in particular). Given the relative novelty and complexity of implementing artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism, few areas have managed to deploy tailored AI solutions in the media industry. In this study, through a mixed-method approach that combines both participant observations and interviews, we explain the hurdles and obstacles to deploying computer vision news projects, a subset of AI, in a leading Latin American news organization, the Argentine newspaper La Nación. Our results highlight four broad difficulties in implementing computer vision projects that involve satellite imagery: a lack of high-resolution imagery, the unavailability of technological infrastructure, the absence of qualified personnel to develop such codes, and a lengthy and costly implementation process that requires significant investment. This article concludes with a discussion of the centrality of AI solutions in the hands of big tech corporations.

Funding information

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