How AI can turn government meeting transcripts into quality story ideas

Why I love this idea for editorial teams

Anyone who has ever covered a government meeting knows how much can come out of a single meeting.

Between agenda items, public comments and discussions, there are often several stories to come out of a meeting, and it’s easy to miss some of them the first time through.

That’s why I like the idea of taking a government meeting that’s been streamed on YouTube, pulling the transcript and running it through a custom GPT to generate story ideas.

I like this idea for a few reasons:

•  It shows reporters where a topic was discussed in the transcript, making it much faster to go back and review the record.
• It helps uncover follow-up angles and future story ideas that may not have been obvious during the meeting.
• It surfaces consent agenda items and other routine business that can become briefs or web updates.
• A custom GPT delivers results based on your newsroom’s standards instead of generic AI responses.

This is the step-by-step process to follow

To do this, these are the steps you would want to take:

• Find the recorded version of the meeting on YouTube.

• Open the transcript (look for a “show transcript” link under the video), then copy the entire transcript.

• Go into your AI tool and paste the transcript (it’s best to do this in a GPT). Write into your GPT instructions that you want a certain number of story ideas and consent agenda items detailed.

• Make sure your GPT notes where in the transcript you can find the story topics.

Here’s a LinkedIn video I created that shows you how to do this.

Meeting attendance is still critical

While this idea can definitely have its benefits, it doesn’t replace the value that a reporter gets from attending meetings. It should be used as an additional tool in the reporting process.

A GPT can’t build relationships with sources, have conversations before or after a meeting, ask follow-up questions or gather background that comes from talking with elected officials and community members.

What it can do is help you find additional story opportunities and quickly locate them in the transcript.

From there, it’s up to the reporter to decide whether the idea is worth pursuing.

📧 Want help with AI? If you’re looking to put tools like this to work in your newsroom, let’s talk. Reach out to me at david@davidarkinconsulting.com

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