This document provides an overview of the BBC's News Hack project exploring modular content and personalization. It discusses the challenges of changing audiences and technologies and the need to deliver content that is useful, relevant and easy to discover. It raises questions about understanding users, avoiding filter bubbles, improving impartiality and increasing journalists' creativity. It also questions how to create modular content from archives and broadcasts, how to develop dynamic applications, and how to ensure scalability, efficiency and ethics. The document proposes exploring opportunities for an industry standard around modular content.

1. Looking towards the horizon
Dr AdrianWoolard
Head of Future ExperienceTechnologies
BBC Research & Development
newsHack: Modular Content December 2020
03 DEC 2020

2. 2001
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3. 3
Public Service
Augmented
Reality
3
Alex Nelson
Dylan McLeish
Jonathan Halkett (Jops)
Jimmy Lee
Rachel O’Sullivan
Todd Burlington
13 Oct 2020
2021?
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4. What is the BBC?
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5. Our mission is "to act in the public interest,
serving all audiences through the provision of
impartial, high-quality and distinctive output
and services which inform, educate and
entertain".

6. The BBC in 2020?
POLITICAL
PRESSURE
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFORMATION
CHANGING AUDIENCES

7. “Online offers a big opportunity to connect deeper
with audiences, helping them to find more, get
information faster, and interact with us.”
Tim Davie, 2020

8. 8
USEFUL
EVERYDAY
designed to serve
daily media occasions
PERSONALLY
RELEVANT
with content
to satisfy all their users
EFFORTLESS
TO DISCOVER
simple & seamless
to use
What we need to deliver:
the three characteristics of successful youth media services

9. What is the challenge?
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10. STORYTELLING
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11. THE CHANGING WAYS OF STORYTELLING
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12. Why are we here?
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13. PERSONALISATION
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It will be very hard for people to watch or
consume something that has not in some sense
been tailored for them.
Eric Schmidt, Google

14. Personalisation is an algorithm adapting something to someone,
based on some knowledge about that someone.
It may be used to optimise for a desired metric (e.g. engagement
or time spent) or to make something more relevant or attractive
to an individual.
It might or might not be a good thing!
PERSONALISATION
14
Exec R&D Prodcuer, BBC

15. Media Interaction Personal
FUTURE EXPERIENCES
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18. 18

19. 19

20. Device Owner Name
Number of Contacts
Battery Level
Battery Condition
Current Activity
Elevation
Number of Installed Apps
Device Make/Model
Time of Day
Weather
Sun Elevation
Location
Indoor/Outdoor
Mobile Network Operator Name
Available Wifi Networks
Altitude Pressure
Connected Bluetooth Devices
External or Internal Audio
Device
Device Orientation
Ambient Brightness
Local Noise Environment
Calendar
Music Tastes
Financial News
User Fitness Information
Current Heart-rate
Number of Listeners/Users
Can it hear itself
Is it in someone's pocket?
What kind of apps
Knowledge of Home and Work
Proximity
PERSONAL DATA / SENSORS
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21. HUMAN VALUES
What new ideas would we arrive at if we defined success by focusing
on Human Values?
Needs
Values
Behaviour
which represent motivational goals
and underlying needs*
*Schwartz, S. H. (2011). Values: Individual and cultural. In F. J. R. van de Vijver (Eds.), A. Chasiotis, & S. M. Breugelmans,
Fundamental questions in cross-cultural psychology (pp. 463-493). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
and measure observable actions
which are not always explicit
We see
We talk about
We are driven by
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22. LOTS OF RESEARCH WORK
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23. Media Interaction Personal
IMMERSIVE, ENGAGING, PARTICIPATORY & ADAPTIVE
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24. What does this mean?
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25. 1. What do you know about the users?
2. What do you want to know?
3. What do they want you to know?
4. What will they value & trust?
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QUESTIONS FOR NEWS HACK: THE USERS

26. 1. How can you avoid filter bubbles?
2. How can you improve impartiality?
3. How can you increase journalists creativity?
4. How can you avoid creating more work for
journalists?
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QUESTIONS FOR NEWS HACK: THE CREATORS

27. 1. What can you know about the content?
-What Type? Text, data, audio, audio -visual, CGI?
-What Metadata? what about The meaning?
2. How can you create modular content from archive,
from broadcast or originate?
3. What dynamic digital applications can you create?
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QUESTIONS FOR NEWS HACK: THE CONTENT

28. 1. How will it scale to not add work to the
creator?
2. How can you make it efficient?
3. How can you make it ethical?
4. How can you tell more relevant stories for all
users?
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QUESTIONS FOR NEWS HACK: THE DEVELOPERS

29. OPPORTUNITY FOR INDUSTRY
1. How can this be an industry opportunity?
2. How can it be interoperable?
3. How can we make it universal and inclusive by
default?
4. Can we build a “modular content” community?
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30. Click to add text
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Thanks !
Credit to @cubicgarden for images and themes