Finding the Local Angle in National News

Shawn O'BanionShawn O'BanionSenior software engineering manager at Google, working on large-scale machine learning. PhD in computer science from Northwestern, where he built The Local Angle at the InfoLab.LinkedIn ↗, Larry BirnbaumLarry BirnbaumProfessor of computer science at Northwestern and co-director of its Intelligent Information Laboratory. Co-founded Narrative Science and was its chief scientific adviser.LinkedIn ↗, Scott Bradley

Published in
Companion Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI Companion '13)
Publisher
ACM, 2013
Pages
89–90
DOI
10.1145/2451176.2451214
Research
Northwestern University Intelligent Information Laboratory

A national story can have local significance when the executive at its center grew up nearby or the company involved is headquartered down the road, and that connection is invisible to anyone scanning by dateline.

This work approached the problem by associating articles with the places attached to the people and organizations they mention, such as a newsmaker's birthplace or a company's headquarters city, and using those associations to identify stories worth local attention regardless of where they originated.

The approach was implemented as Local Angle, an application for content curators and readers.