Amidst the pandemic and the continued decline of the print media business, local newsrooms in the middle of America stay afloat in part due to the very communities they serve. While advertising tanked, these newsrooms have gained more digital traffic than ever from locals clinging to them for updates on the pandemic. Even competitors are helping each other; some publishers have taken to publishing other papers to keep them from closing down for good. Read full article here
Research
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
The Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest work of world literature, has been brought back to life by LMU researchers in the Electronic Babylonian Literature project. Using their new Fragmentarium tool, they have discovered hundreds of manuscripts, including the most recent tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic which dates from 130 BC – thousands of years after the earliest known version. This shows how highly valued the Epic was, even at a late period. With the public release of the Fragmentarium, anyone can now explore the thousands of cuneiform fragments and explore the ancient Babylonian literature. Read full article here