3 days ago
Global newsrooms without borders
How AI is reshaping journalism
In my fourteen years as a digital news editor at Oman Observer, following stints with Reuters and Times of India, I've witnessed numerous technological shifts. Yet none compare to the transformation brought about by artificial intelligence tools over the past year. What once required hours of manual curation, fact-checking, and formatting now happens in minutes, allowing our team to focus on deeper storytelling and audience engagement.
This revolution isn't happening in isolation. Across the globe, major news organisations are reimagining journalism through a powerful combination of data analytics, cross-border collaboration, and AI-driven tools.
The Rise of Borderless Newsrooms
Reuters exemplifies this new paradigm with its Bangalore hub (where I worked for five years)—now its largest newsroom globally—serving as a centre for AI-driven journalism. This strategic approach enables 24/7 news coverage without requiring night shifts in any single location, whilst fostering specialised expertise centres that benefit the entire organisation.
'We're firmly committed to having the human in the loop to oversee any AI-assisted work,' explains Euan Rocha, Bangalore Bureau Chief at Thomson Reuters. This balance between technological advancement and editorial judgment resonates with my experience at Oman Observer, where we've embraced AI tools whilst maintaining rigorous editorial standards.
Real-Time News Delivery Transformed
The speed of news delivery has accelerated dramatically through AI integration. Reuters' Speed teams, which publish around 100,000 business news alerts each month, now use an AI tool called Fact Genie to scan documents in seconds and suggest newsworthy alerts. This allows journalists to publish first alerts within six seconds of receiving information—a game-changer for financial markets and breaking news.
Other agencies have also implemented similar tools to help them process press releases and government statements more efficiently, ensuring our readers receive accurate information faster than ever before. The time saved allows journalists to conduct more interviews and provide deeper context—elements that AI cannot replicate.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
The Associated Press has demonstrated how larger organisations can share AI capabilities with smaller newsrooms through its Local News AI Initiative. Working with five local news organisations, AP developed customised solutions ranging from automated weather alerts to AI-assisted transcription of city council meetings.
This collaborative approach extends beyond technology sharing. Reuters has pioneered 'pair prompting,' where journalists and data scientists work together to develop effective AI solutions. The result is technology that truly serves journalistic needs rather than forcing newsrooms to adapt to rigid systems.
The Human Element Remains Essential
Despite these technological advances, research consistently shows that human oversight remains paramount. The BBC's experience, documented by researchers embedded in their newsrooms, emphasises that AI tools require journalists to ensure accuracy—whether it's an AI-generated summary of a press conference or an analysis of a dataset.
In my daily work overseeing social media content and video production, I've found that AI tools excel at generating initial drafts and identifying trending topics, but they cannot replace the editorial judgment that comes from years of journalistic experience and cultural understanding.
The Future is Collaborative
Looking ahead, the most successful news organisations will be those that embrace a borderless approach—where geographical boundaries become less relevant, information flows continuously, expertise is shared globally, and human judgment remains central.
For editors like myself, this means continuing to adapt our skills whilst holding firm to the fundamental principles of journalism. The tools may change, but our commitment to accuracy, fairness, and meaningful storytelling remains constant in this new era of global newsrooms without borders.
