Apple News Will Rely On Actual Humans To Curate The News

One of the changes that Apple will be making to iOS 9 is the introduction of new apps, like the revamped Newsstand that will now be replaced by Apple News. The new News app from Apple will employ a magazine-like design similar to the likes of Flipboard which will be able to display news and make them more engaging.

It will also be able to curate news based on what it thinks you might like. Now if you were thinking that maybe this could involve some kind of algorithm, think again. It seems that according to a job listing on Apple’s website (via 9to5Mac), the Cupertino company is seeking individuals who can help them with news curation.

According to the job description, it will see these individuals work with publications to “drive relationships with some of the world’s leading newsrooms, ensuring that important breaking news stories are surfaced quickly, and enterprise journalism is rewarded with high visibility.” These individuals will also source not only from the largest publications, but also down to the smallest ones.

This sounds like it could add a more human touch to the proceedings. However according to Techmeme’s Gabe Rivera, there is a downside and that is the news displayed could be skewed and biased due to conflicts of interest, “…as the world’s most valuable corporation, they can’t and shouldn’t be trusted to present well-rounded coverage on many important topics.”

That being said, Rivera also seems to think that while that might be an issue for some, he reckons that most readers probably won’t care, but what say you? Is the human curation a good idea, or like Rivera points out, could end up leading to a conflict of interest?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple
Tags: apple news, Apps, ios 9