Superdesk Powers Award-Winning AI Radio News Innovation

The Finnish News Agency (STT), a Sourcefabric client, was recently named Innovator of the Year by Finland’s most prestigious journalism prize, the Grand Journalism Award (Suuri Journalistipalkinto).

The award recognizes STT’s groundbreaking collaboration with German media giant Bauer Media on AI Radio News—an innovative, AI-powered project made possible through Superdesk.

Using an API integrated into Superdesk’s backend, STT tags and exports newswire stories, which are then converted by Bauer into audio using AI-generated voices. These audio stories are delivered in real time to Bauer’s radio stations across Finland, reaching 3.7 million listeners weekly.

“One of the biggest reasons we were able to get this project launched quickly was the use of the Superdesk API,” said Maija Paikkala, STT’s key account manager and innovation developer.

Thanks to Superdesk, STT didn’t have to build new workflows or implement complex software. Journalists simply learned how to tailor newswire content for radio – Superdesk handled the rest.

Bauer Media, an STT client, accesses content through Sourcefabric’s Newshub portal, where metadata-tagged stories are easily searchable. With the Superdesk Content API running in the background, Bauer can select specific content to transform into audio using their in-house AI voice tool.

And just like that – STT’s stories are ready to air.

Bauer continues to refine its AI technology for more natural speech and accurate pronunciation, Paikkala noted.

“The success of the AI Radio News project comes down to one simple idea: great journalism is still made by people – and supported by the right tools,” said Gideon Lehmann, a Superdesk project manager.

This is the second major recognition for the STT-Bauer Media partnership. In October, their AI Radio News project also won the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) Innovation Award.

Launched to help STT and Bauer reach broader and younger audiences, the project marks a significant step forward in modernizing journalism, distribution, and storytelling – while upholding quality and credibility.

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