The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) has launched an on-demand sub-editing service for newsrooms.
The team of sub-editors can provide fact-checking, grammar and spelling checks in line with news publications’ individual style guides.
The service is available to all Australian newsrooms on a pay-per-article basis, with a subsidised rate for LINA member publishers.
The new LINA sub-editing team consists of five junior sub-editors, and five experienced sub-editors, with cost for newsrooms tiered on this basis.
To help develop industry skills, junior sub-editors are currently finalising a 10 week editing mentorship hosted by the Community Media Training Organisation (CMTO), in partnership with LINA, and senior sub-editors are hosting fortnightly seminars to share their knowledge.
LINA executive director Claire Stuchbery said the role of editors cannot be replaced by AI, despite improvements in this technology.
“We recently held our annual summit for publishers and other media stakeholders, and a big focus of the week was on training delegates in AI platforms and other technology that can be fantastic tools to support the work of journalists and publishers,” she said.
“However, with the uptake of this technology we are learning that having real humans reviewing and verifying content remains absolutely key to mitigating rising mis and disinformation.”
LINA has been representing digital news publishers in government consultations on actions to mitigate the negative impacts social media platforms can have on individuals and society. This includes support that enables local and independent news publishers to contribute to growing media literacy, strengthening democracy and providing essential trusted and relevant information services to communities.
A not-for-profit industry association formed in 2021, LINA aims to assist newsrooms with capacity building support and services that promote the production of public interest journalism.
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