19 December 2022 • 12:00 - 12:45 | Online

Making audiovisual archives usable with AI

Presentation by Cyber Valley Journalist-in-Residence Bettina Friedrich

How can artificial intelligence (AI) be used meaningfully to make journalistic archives more easily accessible? How can “interview treasures” be processed in such a way that image and sound recordings can be reused more quickly, in a more targeted manner, and ideally for anyone and everyone? How can very specific parts of an interview be listened to – for example, those that were not used in the finished editorial contribution?

We invite you to the online lecture by Bettina Friedrich, in which the journalist from Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) presents her research project in the Cyber Valley Journalist-in-Residence program.

“Asking questions is core to journalism,” says Friedrich. “But for the final products, usually only parts of the answers are used. Editing is part of the job, and it’s important, too. But often enough, many answers remain unused or, after a one-time broadcast, can at best be found in the depths of archives.”

During her time in Tübingen from early December to mid-March 2023, Friedrich wants to find out how such archival treasures can be lifted and made individually useful. “In short: journalists ask many questions. What’s important are the answers. That’s what my project is about.”

When?

Monday, Dezember 19, 12:00–12:45 Uhr CET.

Where?

Online via Zoom. Sign up for the video conference here.

About Bettina Friedrich:

Bettina Friedrich works in the team of the program director of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. She studied journalism and Slavic studies in Leipzig, Zurich and Minsk. After a traineeship at ZDF, she worked in various editorial departments at MDR, in the directorate and for the editor-in-chief. During her studies she was sponsored by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. Bettina was born in Leipzig in 1982. After the peaceful revolution, the family moved to the United States for a while. As a teenager, she spent a year in Québec, Canada. Friedrich is married and has three children.

About the Cyber Valley Journalist-in-Residence program:

In a three- to six-month residency, a science journalist on leave for this program explores how AI applications can be used meaningfully for good journalism. Or how journalists can report appropriately and evidence-based on the technologies behind the buzzword “artificial intelligence.” The journalist selected by an independent jury will determine the topic and question themselves. The program is a collaboration with the Center for Rhetorical Science Communication Research on Artificial Intelligence (RHET AI Center). It is funded by the VolkswagenFoundation.