OLD Media Moves

A business reporter takes on a machine in writing earnings

May 20, 2015

Posted by Chris Roush

Stacey Vanek Smith of “Planet Money” writes about how NPR reporter Scott Horsley fared in writing the earnings story for Denny’s Corp. compared to a machine programmed to write the same story.

Smith writes, “The rules for the race: Both contenders waited for Denny’s, the diner company, to come out with an earnings report. Once that was released, the stopwatch started. Both wrote a short radio story and get graded on speed and style.

“Scott had a leg up: He used to be a Denny’s regular. He even had a regular waitress, Genevieve, who knew his favorite order (Moons Over My Hammy, obviously).

“When the Denny’s earnings report came out, WordSmith finished writing the story in two minutes. Scott took just over seven minutes. Here’s what they came up with.

Reporter vs. computer

To find out which story Horsley wrote, go here.

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