How I run my business with Bots
How a Grok Bot helps me run a small news section
In short
How my News Desk Bot finds stories, checks every fact against a source, drafts articles and photo credits, and waits for my approval before anything is published.
A news section keeps a site fresh, but writing it every day is a lot. My News Desk Bot does the legwork, and I stay the editor.
The workflow
- Find. A routine asks the Bot to look for new stories in my topic area.
- Brief. It writes a short brief for each one: what happened, why readers care, and the sources.
- Check. Every fact in the draft gets a source link. Anything it can't confirm is cut or clearly marked.
- Photos. It only suggests photos with a licence that allows reuse, and it writes the credit line. I approve every photo.
- Approve. I read the draft and say yes, edit, or hold.
- Publish. Only then does my website Bot publish it.
Rules I gave it
- No invented quotes, numbers or sources.
- Link the original source, not someone else's write-up of it.
- Mark opinion as opinion.
- Never publish. Drafts only.
I also keep a public editorial standards page on my site, so readers know how stories are made and that a person approves each one.
Start small
Begin with one story a week. Read every draft closely for the first month. You'll quickly see where your Bot needs clearer rules, and you can add them to its instructions.
A free News Desk template is on the way.
Questions people ask
Is it okay to publish AI-assisted news?
Be open about it, check every fact, and have a person approve each story. Those three habits matter more than the tools.