The Human Touch: Apple Is Hiring Journalists For Apple News

Apple’s forthcoming Flipboard-slaying Apple News project just got a lot more interesting: A series of job listings from Cupertino indicate that Apple is looking to hire human editors for the initiative.

In the listing, the company writes that it is seeking editors with newsroom and social media backgrounds, along with at least five years of journalism experience, to “help identify and deliver the best in breaking national, global, and local news.”

9to5Mac, which dug up the job postings, notes that the use of human curation raises interesting issues for Apple. Rather than operating a specific news service for Apple products or a feature-y sports or entertainment portal, Apple is running a general service news destination for users. This means Apple will be directly featuring content on rivals like Amazon, Google, and Samsung, which could create challenges down the line. Google News, the closest precedent to date for Apple News, features placement determined by algorithms.

Industry watchers are wont to untangle the intricacies of Apple News, but the service has one big plus: It will help save RSS. After Google Reader shut down in 2013, there was worry for the future of the article publication format. While RSS was too difficult to use for a mass audience, the format is a lifesaver for journalists, academics, analysts, and other enterprise users. Apple’s decision to favor RSS over PDF distribution or other formats is big news for the media world.

[via 9to5Mac]