Insights
Practical notes and examples connected to business writing.
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Not long ago, if you were writing something important, you were usually focused on getting one version right. Now, AI means the same piece turns into a collection: summary, talking points, Q&A, rewrites for different channels.
For six months, we have been using AI agents to help draft scripts and story angles for Fear & Greed (Australia’s most popular business podcast! Listen here.) We have seen some entertaining failures.
A workshop we do for our clients from time to time focuses on helping them understand how journalists make decisions on what is newsworthy and judge the relative weight they should give to the stories they run. When you read a news website or watch the evening news, it seems as though the stories are presented effortlessly in order of importance.
At The Australian Financial Review there used to be a cherished tradition. For every major news event a small group of reporters and section editors would retreat to a room with a whiteboard and hammer out a dozen angles on the story—who did it affect, who wins, what happens next, what did this person think, can we interview so-and-so and on and on.
If you read something that is well written, you understand it first time around. When it is poorly written, you find yourself re-reading sentences. In the media and in business, this mostly means short sentences using simple and accurate words.
What is quality content? The answer is always in the eye of the beholder. An economics boffin will judge quality content differently to a sports lover or a political junky.
