EPIC: Future-proof news production thanks to a smart platform for modular journalism

The EPIC project is developing an intelligent Newsroom Computer System (NRCS) as a Software-as-a-Service (SAAS), supporting editorial teams in story-based news production across various modalities, channels, and devices. The project integrates multimodal news content following the principles of modular journalism.

Field of interest: Communication, Media and Design

Duration: 2/01/2023 - 31/12/2024

Financing: Overheidsopdrachten

In short

EPIC develops an innovative newsroom computer system (NRCS) based on a Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) model. This system supports newsrooms in story-based news production across multiple modalities (text, audio, video, images), channels (print, television, online, social media), and devices (laptop, smartphone, TV). EPIC provides an efficient, future-proof workflow throughout the entire news production process: from news gathering to reporting.

Need and relevance

Newsrooms face significant challenges: they need to produce content faster, often with fewer resources, while ensuring news stories are multimodal and omni-channel. EPIC addresses these needs by developing a scalable, smart workflow engine that modularises and semi-automates news content. This enables greater efficiency while ensuring compliance with the latest European media legislation on data protection and privacy.

From approach to impact

EPIC brings together a consortium of media companies, technology partners, and academic researchers:

Roularta, Kanaal Z/Trends, and BRUZZ contribute real-world insights and experience from journalistic practice.
Technology partners EMG Belgium and TinkerList provide the technological expertise to make the platform scalable and user-friendly.
AContrario ensures compliance with European data privacy and intellectual property rights (IPR).
Arteveldehogeschool conducts practice-oriented scientific research to align the platform with newsroom needs.

Through this collaboration, EPIC develops a scalable, compliant platform that supports newsrooms of all sizes: from emerging media influencers to large, multi-channel news organisations. With smart tools and semi-automation, EPIC optimises journalistic workflows, enabling newsrooms to focus more on delivering high-quality reporting.