Justin Evans, the founder of South Shore News, has successfully transitioned to a subscription-based model, attracting 350 paying subscribers eager to understand local political developments across towns from Weymouth to Plymouth. This initiative highlights an emerging interest in AI-generated news content, particularly in areas that legacy media has overlooked.
Launched in April, South Shore News faced a critical challenge: Would an audience embrace AI-generated recaps of municipal and school meetings? Evans has turned this venture into a profitable side project, projecting $25,000 in revenue for the year against minimal operating expenses—excluding his personal investment of time—which has encouraged him to consider expanding the project.
Residents in the South Shore region have been underserved when it comes to local news coverage, as traditional media outlets have scaled back their reporting. While South Shore News cannot fully replicate the depth of coverage that established newsrooms provided, it delivers insights derived from AI transcriptions of public meetings streamed online. However, the platform has its limitations; for instance, it may miss nuanced local dialects, leading to errors that a seasoned journalist would likely catch.
William Quigley, Cohasset's police chief and a subscriber, voiced concerns about AI replacing human reporters, acknowledging that adaptation is necessary despite the challenges that come with technological change.
Frustrated by insufficient local governance coverage, Evans started South Shore News in 2024. The site encompasses news from 19 towns south of Boston, with subscription fees beginning at $8 monthly or $80 annually. Additionally, the service sends article previews to over 3,000 free subscribers.
Utilizing Substack for publishing, Evans employs Google's Gemini AI for transcribing public meetings on YouTube, while other videos are processed with an OpenAI tool. For crafting the articles, he favors the Claude model for initial drafts and uses another model for editing. Each morning, he receives an AI-generated summary of local developments to stay updated on the South Shore's news landscape.
Evans organizes articles by focusing on town-specific issues or synthesizing common themes across multiple municipalities. He often bolds critical names and statistics within the content, includes subheadings, and embeds linked timestamps to enhance reader navigation.
With 1,900 stories published in just over two and a half years, recent articles have addressed topics like the Plymouth County Commission's rental property discussions, local residents' complaints about neighborhood bus routes in Hingham, and summaries of high school graduation speeches.
Initially, some readers were skeptical regarding the reliability of AI-generated content for critical updates like school budget dilemmas or property tax votes. However, many have grown to accept minor inaccuracies, preferring this option over the often convoluted task of watching lengthy public meetings online.
Mary Waldron, a paid subscriber from Brockton and executive director at Old Colony Planning Council, remarked on the slow speed of traditional newspapers, emphasizing the need for timely information. Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University, acknowledged South Shore News's unparalleled reach but expressed concerns that reliance on AI-generated news could hinder traditional journalism's revival efforts.
Some readers have remarked that while the site offers valuable information, it doesn't quite replace the role of a traditional news organization. Evans remains transparent about this reality, explaining that he prefers to focus on providing essential local updates rather than pursuing in-depth investigative pieces.
Currently, Evans manages South Shore News alongside his full-time role with the state’s Department of Public Utilities but contemplates hiring a part-time editor if revenue can reach $30,000 to $35,000 annually. He is also exploring the possibility of accessing legal notices through a print publication, an intriguing prospect for a service founded on AI principles.
