Responsible use of data and technologies in the media

Technologies are getting more and more sophisticated and personalized. The use of data by media companies has also been a popular discussion in recent days. Media companies not only need to focus on audience acquisition but also always keep in mind their social responsibilities, said participants at the 8^th Data & AI for Media Conference in London November 1-2.

Magda Piatkowska, Head of Data Science Solutions at BBC, says as a public broadcaster, BBC always has its audience at heart and the use of data is not only for seeking attention or better engagement but also for the social good. She says from the start, when looking at the data, the media group has to remove its demographic bias. It’s a different mindset from the revenue oriented commercial companies. She gives an example of BBC’s initiative to better engage their female audience as well as how they use data to convince journalists to produce more relevant contents for the readers from “update me” to “inspire me”.

Natalie Mao, Director of Product Management of Bing News at the Microsoft, says search is in an interesting moment as technologies are getting so advanced. How to bring the answers to the people directly, more naturally and how to make people’s life better has always been in their pursuit at Bing. With the newly launched AI-driven multi-perspective news feature Spotlight, Bing aims to bring people more news from diverse and quality sources in less time. Though whether the effort to mitigate bias could work is yet to be examined, the principles of AI development outlined by Microsoft, “fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability” is foundational to their approach to the development of Bing.

Christine Mohan, Co-founder and Partnerships Lead at Civil, United States, introduces that they are a fast-growing community of top journalists and technologists, working together to build a home for trustworthy, sustainable journalism. As a decentralized marketplace for sustainable journalism, their mission is to help power sustainable journalism throughout the world. To do so, They are employing a decentralized model based on blockchain and cryptoeconomics. She says journalists around the world are facing an existential threat like never before and they are committed to introducing a new funding model — and a supporting ecosystem — that enables journalists to focus on serving their readers above all else.

These speakers participated on a panel discussion at the 8th Data & AI for Media Conference. The conference is for media and data practitioners who are seeking to earn revenue and expand audiences by leveraging data and artificial intelligence. The 2-day event features a powerful format of general sessions with top-notch speakers, plus interactive, small-group breakout sessions called “huddles.”