[LINK] Columbia Newsblaster

[Bill D'Arcy]

Linkers
Columbia Newsblaster
<http://www.cs.columbia.edu/nlp/newsblaster/>
Columbia Newsblaster is an online project at Columbia University's
Department of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied
Science. Newsblaster currently looks at news reports from thirteen sources,
including Yahoo, ABCNews, CNN, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, CBS News,
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Virtual New York, Washington Post,
Wired, and USA Today. The product uses artificial intelligence techniques
to cull through news reports published online and then sorts and summarizes
these reports in five different news categories -- US, world, finance,
entertainment, and sports. These summaries are based on reflecting factors,
such as where a fact is mentioned in the published reports and how often it
is repeated across reports dealing with the same event or subject. They are
also based on the news value of individual facts, such as how many were
killed or injured, or how much damage to property occurred. On the whole,
in an age of information overload, this newly developed tool may provide
assistance to journalists, executives, and average news consumers.

Bill D'Arcy