Learn Challenge: Automate Daily News Digest | Automation and Content Analysis in the Newsroom

Automating the production of a daily news digest is a practical way to increase newsroom efficiency and ensure consistent delivery of essential information to your audience. By using Python to handle repetitive editorial tasks, you can save valuable time and reduce manual errors, allowing journalists to focus on more in-depth reporting and analysis.


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# Example: Reading and writing files in Python with predefined news data

# Predefined list of articles for today
articles = [
    {"headline": "City Council Approves New Park", "summary": "A new park will be built downtown following a unanimous vote."},
    {"headline": "Tech Conference Opens", "summary": "Leaders in technology gather to discuss the future of AI."},
]

# Compile the digest string
digest_lines = []
for article in articles:
    digest_lines.append(f"Headline: {article['headline']}")
    digest_lines.append(f"Summary: {article['summary']}\n")

digest_text = "\n".join(digest_lines)

# Save the digest to a file named with today's date
from datetime import date

filename = f"news_digest_{date.today()}.txt"
with open(filename, "w", encoding="utf-8") as file:
    file.write(digest_text)

Automating daily editorial tasks such as compiling news digests not only saves time but also helps maintain consistency and accuracy in newsroom outputs. By leveraging simple Python scripts, you can transform a routine, manual process into a streamlined workflow, freeing up journalists to focus on more complex assignments and creative storytelling.

Task

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Write a Python script to automate the creation of a daily news digest using a predefined list of articles. Each article contains a headline and a summary.

Extract the headline and summary from each article in the list.
Compile all headlines and summaries into a single text string, formatting each with "Headline:" and "Summary:" labels.
Separate each article's entry with a blank line.
Save the compiled digest string to a file named using today's date in the format news_digest_YYYY-MM-DD.txt.
Return the filename after saving.

Solution

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# Example: Reading and writing files in Python with predefined news data

# Predefined list of articles for today
articles = [
    {"headline": "City Council Approves New Park", "summary": "A new park will be built downtown following a unanimous vote."},
    {"headline": "Tech Conference Opens", "summary": "Leaders in technology gather to discuss the future of AI."},
]

# Compile the digest string
digest_lines = []
for article in articles:
    digest_lines.append(f"Headline: {article['headline']}")
    digest_lines.append(f"Summary: {article['summary']}\n")

digest_text = "\n".join(digest_lines)

# Save the digest to a file named with today's date
from datetime import date

filename = f"news_digest_{date.today()}.txt"
with open(filename, "w", encoding="utf-8") as file:
    file.write(digest_text)