The Excerpt podcast: Bethlehem Christmas quiet this year
On Monday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Israel killed dozens in an airstrike on a refugee camp Sunday. USA TODAY Trending News Reporter Anthony Robledo talks about a television channel's plans for AI to generate news. An animal shelter has empty kennels this Christmas. The Detroit Pistons make unwanted history. USA TODAY Breaking News Reporter Claire Thornton tells the story of a young child who found a historic shipwreck in Lake Michigan.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning and Merry Christmas. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Monday, December 25th, 2023. This is The Excerpt. Today, Israel has killed dozens at a Gaza refugee camp. Plus we look at one project testing the waters of AI in news, and we'll hear the story of a child who found a centuries old shipwreck in Lake Michigan.
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Israel continued slamming Gaza yesterday, killing some 70 people in an airstrike on the Maghazi refugee camp. Ahad Tur Turani lost several family members, including his daughter and grandson. He said, "We were all targeted. There is no safe place in Gaza anyway." The strike killing at least seven children, according to early hospital figures, was condemned by the Council on American Islamic relations. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that 15 Israeli troops were killed over the weekend. The death toll among Israeli troops has now reached 156 since Israel's ground incursion into Gaza began and could threaten public support for the war in Israel. Some 20,400 Palestinians have been killed while almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced. Amass led militant stormed communities in Southern Israel on October 7th, killing 1200 people and taking hundreds more hostage. The war and its brutal violence is hanging over Bethlehem. This year where Christmas Eve celebrations were canceled.
Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Hanania said, "Our message every year on Christmas is one of peace and love, but this year it's a message of sadness, grief, and anger in front of the international community with what is happening and going on in the Gaza Strip."
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Could AI be part of the future of news? The world's first news network entirely generated by artificial intelligence is set to launch next year. I spoke with USA today trending news reporter Anthony Robledo to learn more. Anthony, thanks for hopping on The Excerpt.
Anthony Robledo:
Hey Taylor, it's great to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
So Anthony, channel one, plans to use AI to help generate the news and even represent broadcasters. How exactly will this work?
Anthony Robledo:
Well, people are used to seeing AI create its own images, scripts, voices. This platform combines those assets to create a new show that sort of feels like you're watching live TV, except the news will be told by AI generated reporters that look and sound real, but are actually made from scans of real people. As for the news itself, the channel will partner with legacy outlets and freelance reporters to do some reporting. It'll also be able to do it some of its own original reporting from public records and government documents.
Taylor Wilson:
And one idea behind this program is that it might personalize the news experience, right? In a similar way that an app like Spotify, for example, uses algorithms to tailor that user experience. Can you talk about that aspect a little bit, Anthony?
Anthony Robledo :
Well, as we know, with a live broadcast, you're watching the same things as everyone else, but with the AI show, it's really tailored to how you want to consume the news, and sort of creates a show that's customized for yourself.
Taylor Wilson:
I mean, as a journalist, I must confess, Anthony, I hear this and it worries me a little bit. What journalistic benefit do the creators of this program foresee and what criticisms about journalistic integrity and other issues do critics present?
Anthony Robledo:
Definitely I'm concerned as well, but when it comes to the benefits, AI can often produce content at a much faster pace than humans. Channel one also plans to create its own visuals from courtrooms where cameras are not allowed. So it has a lot of more capabilities than human reporters often have access to. In terms of the criticism, a lot of people are concerned about it being easier for more misinformation and disinformation to spread. Human reporters often have to follow these ethical standards for fact checking and finding trusted sources, while AI is more of a loose cannon when it comes to collecting photos and videos.
Taylor Wilson:
Anthony, going forward, what's the timeline for this project? When can folks expect to watch it engage with it?
Anthony Robledo:
They were hoping to launch by February, but now plans of change in they're aiming for a spring timeline, but they're also planning to drop an app that'll have a custom translation feature, and that should drop by the summer.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Anthony Robledo, a fascinating for some maybe frightening story. Thanks so much for coming on and talking about it.
Anthony Robledo:
Thanks for having me.
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Taylor Wilson:
Christmas came early this year at an animal shelter in Pennsylvania for the first time in about a half century, all of its kennels were empty. A post from the Adams County, SPCA announcing the news read, "To say that we are beyond excited is an understatement. It is a true miracle." The shelter this year has adopted out nearly 600 animals and reunited 125 strays. More than 6 million companion animals enter shelters in the US every year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
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The Detroit Pistons are making history as losers. The team lost yesterday to the Brooklyn Nets marking their 26th loss in a row. That ties an NBA single season record and they're now only three away from the league's all time longest losing streak, which was set by the Philadelphia 76 ERs across two seasons. Meanwhile, the NBA's Christmas Day tradition continues today with five games on tap. Things will tip off at noon eastern with the Bucks and Knicks with games running all day until the nightcap between the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns tonight at 10:30 Eastern. You can follow along with USA Today sports.
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A young child obsessed with mermaids had a fairytale come true when she stumbled across a 152 year old shipwreck in Lake Michigan last summer. I spoke with USA Today breaking news reporter Claire Thornton for more. Claire, thanks for hopping on.
Claire Thornton :
Hey, Taylor, great to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
So Claire, I love this story. What happened here? How did this 4-year-old find a shipwreck in Lake Michigan?
Claire Thornton :
4-year-old Henley Wollak. She's now five, but when this happened in August, she was four. She and her dad, Tim, were out on their boat, which is one of their favorite things to do together as a father and daughter. They were out on Lake Michigan and Henley loves to go swimming. Her dad told me she loves mermaids. Her bedroom at home is decorated in mermaid colors, blues, purples, greens. And so they were on their boat, the dad is a big fisher, and so he has this technology on his motorboat that allows him to see under the surface of the water using sonar and there's a screen that he can look at to look for game fish and other things that are of interest to him and Henley.
And they were on their way to Henley's favorite swimming spot, and they were going real slow so that Tim could look for fish just southeast of Green Bay's Green Island. They saw something that looked a little weird, and Tim said that after a couple seconds he was like, I bet that's a shipwreck. And he was right, but he had no idea just how old it would be or just how significant of a ship this was.
Taylor Wilson:
Absolutely. So what do we know about this ship that they found Claire?
Claire Thornton :
This month, people from the Wisconsin Historical Society wrote back to the family saying that they believe that this is the wreck of the George L. Newman, a three mastered ship that was more than 40 yards long, massive sailing ship that was built way back in 1855, and it sunk in 1871 when it was sailing across Lake Michigan delivering lumber. The location of this shipwreck was never known. This was a long lost shipwreck. Even though people knew that this ship sank way back in 1871, no one had ever found it.
Taylor Wilson:
And so what's the plan now with the findings, with the wreck itself? What happens next there, Claire?
Claire Thornton :
Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources started researching the ship more. They're going to be going underwater with cameras and sonar, and this will allow them to add a lot of information to the historical record. All thanks to Tim and Henley's discovery.
Taylor Wilson:
Amazing story. You can find a link to this story in today's show notes. Claire Thornton, thanks so much.
Claire Thornton :
Thank you, Taylor.
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Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you use a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. If you're celebrating. I hope you have a great Christmas and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Excerpt podcast: Bethlehem Christmas quiet this year
