People & Skills

A-lehdet builds AI tool to put short-video production in journalists’ hands

Tuesday, 10 November 2026 4:01AM UTC

The Finnish media group’s script creator turns articles and interviews into social videos, aiming to make production accessible beyond specialist teams.

A-lehdet, the Finnish media group, is using an AI-assisted script creator to help journalists turn articles and interviews into short videos for social media. The tool proposes a structure for each script, including an opening designed to draw viewers in, reducing some of the work involved in adapting written journalism for mobile formats.

Executive producer Milla Kukkonen developed the first working version in Google AI Studio, seeking feedback from editorial colleagues as she went. Its functions have since been moved into ChatGPT, the AI environment used across the company. Kukkonen told WAN-IFRA that the speed of developing the prototype was energising.

The project reflects A-lehdet’s push to expand mobile video and make production less dependent on specialist teams. Kukkonen said the company hopes writers will be able to create videos themselves, while the tool could also help freelancers’ work reach audiences on social platforms. With a relatively broad group involved in the organisation’s social content, she estimates that about half of the editorial staff could use it.

The move comes as publishers adapt to audiences’ changing news habits. The Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report describes the growing role of video and social platforms in news consumption, while noting that patterns vary between markets. In Finland, the report finds comparatively strong use of publishers’ own destinations for video, a reminder that social distribution is only one part of the picture.

A-lehdet began in 1933 with the magazine Apu and remains a family business. Its current activities extend beyond publishing into digital commerce and influencing, according to the company’s profile. That broader organisation provides the setting for Kukkonen’s effort to connect editorial work with technology and new formats.

Kukkonen’s participation in WAN-IFRA’s NextGen AI Leaders programme, supported by the Google News Initiative, helped shape the project and her approach to adoption. The initiative brought together emerging media executives to develop practical AI and leadership skills. Kukkonen told WAN-IFRA that successful implementation depends on shared goals, clear responsibilities and cooperation, not simply the introduction of a new tool.

She also argues that staff need room to discuss doubts about AI, including its potential effects on journalism and meaningful work. That emphasis on editorial responsibility is consistent with Council of Europe guidance, which treats AI in journalism as an issue spanning tool selection, workplace practice and effects on audiences and society. Kukkonen’s advice is to invest in organised learning while keeping sight of journalism’s distinctive contribution: finding and reporting stories that have not yet been brought to light.

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Source: Noah Wire Services

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https://wan-ifra.org/2026/11/a-lehdet-speeds-up-ai-adoption-with-an-in-house-short-video-script-creator/ - Please view link - unable to able to access data
https://wan-ifra.org/2026/11/a-lehdet-speeds-up-ai-adoption-with-an-in-house-short-video-script-creator/ - WAN-IFRA reports how A-lehdet Executive Producer Milla Kukkonen developed an AI-assisted tool to help journalists turn articles and interviews into short-form social videos. The tool takes source material and suggests a script structure, including an opening hook, aiming to reduce the effort involved in video ideation and make mobile video production more accessible to writers and freelancers. Kukkonen first built a working prototype with Google AI Studio, then transferred its features to ChatGPT, the AI environment used across the company. The article says roughly half of the editorial team could become users and that the tool is designed to work in Finnish. It also describes Kukkonen’s participation in WAN-IFRA’s NextGen AI Leaders programme, developed with support from the Google News Initiative. In the accompanying interview, she frames AI adoption as a leadership and organisational challenge, not merely a technical one: teams need shared goals, clear responsibilities, collaboration and space to raise concerns. She advocates coordinated staff learning and upskilling, while stressing the importance of human judgement, original reporting and discovering previously untold stories. The article situates the project within A-lehdet’s broader move towards mobile video and explains how the programme helped Kukkonen become a bridge between editorial and technical teams. It directly supports the specific claims about the tool, its development, intended users and Kukkonen’s reflections.
https://www.a-lehdet.com/categories/about - A-lehdet’s official English-language company profile describes the group’s history, business and present-day structure. It identifies A-lehdet as a Finnish family business and dates its beginnings to 1933, when Aune and Yrjö Lyytikäinen began publishing the magazine Apu. The company’s historical timeline traces subsequent additions to its magazine portfolio and illustrates how the publisher developed beyond its original title. The profile also describes the current group as a broader media and commerce organisation, listing businesses including A-lehdet, Finnish Design Shop, Keskisen Kello, Laine Publishing and Satokausi Media. It characterises A-lehdet as specialising in media, digital commerce and influencing, supporting the article’s background description of a publisher that has diversified beyond print. The company profile is useful as a primary source for basic facts about its identity, origins and group composition. It does not independently document Milla Kukkonen’s video-script tool or the details of the NextGen AI Leaders programme; those are covered by WAN-IFRA’s reporting. Its information helps corroborate the article’s introductory context that A-lehdet is Finnish, has a long publishing history, began with Apu and remains family-run. The page also gives readers an official overview of the group’s activities and brands, helping place the newsroom tool within the wider organisation rather than treating A-lehdet solely as a magazine publisher.
https://wan-ifra.org/2026/04/meet-the-nextgen-ai-leaders-in-news-media/ - This WAN-IFRA announcement introduces the first cohort of its NextGen AI Leaders programme, supported by the Google News Initiative. It says 24 media professionals from 14 countries were selected, representing disciplines such as business development, data science, product management and editorial leadership. The programme’s stated purpose is to help emerging leaders navigate technological change while keeping newsrooms grounded in editorial integrity. It outlines the cohort’s international and multidisciplinary make-up and explains that participants would explore AI, strategic leadership and organisational change with specialist coaches. The announcement connects the programme to practical newsroom priorities: responsible experimentation, better storytelling and decision-making, and the ability to lead teams through AI-related transformation. It also gives examples of participants’ ambitions, including developing ethical frameworks, improving accuracy and transparency, piloting AI-supported workflows, mentoring colleagues and contributing to organisational policy. This provides corroborating context for the programme described in the A-lehdet article and supports its account of a leadership initiative rather than a purely technical training course. The page does not independently verify the details of Kukkonen’s particular prototype, but it establishes the programme’s scope, sponsorship, cohort and emphasis on editorial leadership. Together with the article, it helps explain why a newsroom executive might use the programme to develop an AI project and build capacity to connect technology and editorial work.
https://wan-ifra.org/2026/02/wan-ifra-introduces-the-nextgen-ai-leaders-programme-to-equip-emerging-news-executives-with-practical-ai-and-leadership-skills/ - WAN-IFRA’s programme launch announcement sets out the aims and design of NextGen AI Leaders. Supported by the Google News Initiative, the initiative was created for 24 emerging news executives aged 25 to 40 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Its intended participants hold leadership roles in areas including product, audience, commercial and editorial work, particularly at small, medium-sized or local news organisations. The programme is presented as a structured effort to strengthen practical AI adoption and newsroom management, while helping participants respond to the changes AI is bringing to the media sector. The announcement describes responsible deployment, leadership development and stronger audience engagement as central goals. It also places the initiative within a longer partnership between WAN-IFRA and Google focused on helping publishers adapt to changing technology and audience preferences. This source supports the article’s description of the programme as a leadership and responsible-AI initiative in partnership with the Google News Initiative. It gives background on who the programme serves and why it exists, but it does not substantiate the operational details of A-lehdet’s video-script creator. Read alongside the article and the cohort announcement, it shows how the programme’s emphasis on organisational change could apply to an editorial AI project: leaders need to connect tools to newsroom roles, skills and workflows, rather than viewing AI implementation as a standalone technology exercise.
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2025/dnr-executive-summary - The Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report executive summary examines how audiences access news across countries and platforms. It describes the increasing importance of social media, video networks and online creators, including a reported rise in weekly news-video consumption across markets. The report notes that much video news is accessed through third-party platforms rather than publishers’ own websites or apps, while publishers are also adding video formats to their sites and services. It discusses generational differences in news preferences and suggests that publishers may need to devote more newsroom resources to audio-visual production. The report also describes short, social-media-inspired video as part of publishers’ strategies for presenting journalism and reporters to audiences. Its findings provide broader industry context for A-lehdet’s stated aim of increasing mobile-video production and adapting written journalism for social distribution. The report does not verify the specific tool developed by Milla Kukkonen, nor does it describe A-lehdet’s workflow; its contribution is evidence about audience and industry trends that help explain why publishers might invest in video formats. The report also highlights differences between markets, including Finland’s comparatively strong use of publisher destinations for video, offering relevant nuance rather than suggesting that all audiences behave alike. It is a useful independent source for the article’s general claims about the growing role of video in news consumption and distribution.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/freedom-expression/-/guidelines-on-the-responsible-implementation-of-artificial-intelligence-ai-systems-in-journalism?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block - The Council of Europe’s page introduces its guidelines on responsible use of AI systems in journalism. Adopted in December 2023 by the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society, the guidance is intended for news organisations as well as states, technology providers and platforms that distribute news. It addresses AI across multiple stages of journalistic production, from deciding whether to use a system and selecting tools to integrating them into professional practice and considering effects on audiences and society. The guidelines translate wider human-rights and rule-of-law principles into recommendations specific to journalism. This source supports the article’s broader emphasis on responsible AI deployment, editorial practices and the need for collaboration between technology and newsroom staff. It is not a report on A-lehdet’s internal project and does not confirm the video-script tool’s features or results. Rather, it provides an authoritative framework for understanding why AI projects in newsrooms involve more than technical implementation: tool acquisition, newsroom integration, audience impact and organisational responsibilities also matter. The page explains that the guidance covers responsibilities for technology providers and platforms, alongside the role of member states in supporting responsible journalistic AI. Its principles are relevant to Kukkonen’s account of leadership, shared understanding, training and editorial involvement, while serving as independent context for the article’s discussion of AI use in journalism.

A-lehdet
Artificial intelligence
Video journalism