GovNews is an AI-assisted government reporting platform developed by Shore News Network to improve public access to local government information by transforming lengthy public meetings into clear, searchable, and easy-to-understand news summaries.
Our mission is to help residents stay informed about the decisions made by their elected officials without requiring them to watch hours of public meetings or read lengthy meeting minutes.
Who Created GovNews?
GovNews was developed by Shore News Network, an independent digital news organization with years of experience covering local government, public safety, and community affairs throughout New Jersey and surrounding regions.
The platform was created under the direction of Phil Stilton, founder and publisher of Shore News Network, after years of firsthand experience attending, reporting on, and analyzing municipal meetings, planning boards, zoning boards, county government, school boards, and other public bodies.
GovNews combines that newsroom experience with artificial intelligence to increase the speed and breadth of government coverage while maintaining transparency about how each report is produced.
How GovNews Works
GovNews analyzes publicly available government records, including:
Official meeting agendas
Approved meeting minutes
Public meeting transcripts
Video captions and recordings, when available
Public resolutions and ordinances
Other publicly released government documents
Using natural language processing and machine learning, GovNews identifies major topics discussed during meetings, extracts key actions taken by governing bodies, summarizes public discussions, and organizes information into a readable news format.
Whenever possible, articles are reviewed by Shore News Network before publication. Because some meetings produce thousands of pages of transcripts or several hours of discussion, certain reports may be published as AI-assisted summaries while awaiting additional editorial review.
Editorial Standards
GovNews follows the editorial principles established by Shore News Network.
Our reporting strives to be:
Fact-based
Transparent
Attributed to official public records
Free from fabricated quotations or invented facts
Focused on helping residents understand government actions
The platform does not generate opinions or political endorsements as part of its automated reporting process. Any clearly identified opinion or editorial published by Shore News Network is produced separately from GovNews.
Transparency
Every GovNews article clearly identifies when artificial intelligence was used during the reporting process.
Whenever practical, readers are informed of the source materials used to create an article, including official meeting minutes, transcripts, agendas, or recordings.
Government records remain the official source of information. GovNews provides summaries designed to improve accessibility, not replace official public records.
Accuracy and Corrections
Artificial intelligence can occasionally misunderstand context, speaker identification, procedural language, or transcription errors contained within the original source material.
For that reason:
Official government records always take precedence.
Readers should verify critical information with the applicable government agency.
Shore News Network welcomes corrections and updates.
To report an error or provide additional documentation, email:
news@shorenewsnetwork.com
Every reported correction is reviewed by the editorial staff, and verified errors are corrected as quickly as possible.
Human Oversight
GovNews is designed to assist journalists—not replace them.
Artificial intelligence accelerates the review of lengthy public meetings, but editorial judgment remains an essential part of responsible journalism. Human editors may revise, expand, clarify, or update AI-generated summaries as additional information becomes available.
Why GovNews Exists
Thousands of local government meetings occur every month across the United States, yet many receive little or no news coverage because of the time required to review lengthy recordings and documents.
GovNews was created to close that gap by making local government reporting more scalable, allowing residents to better understand how public officials make decisions affecting taxes, development, schools, public safety, infrastructure, and community services.
By reducing the time required to process public records, GovNews enables broader civic coverage while maintaining a commitment to transparency and accountability.
Our Commitment
GovNews is built on five core principles:
Public records are the foundation of every report.
Transparency about AI involvement is mandatory.
Human editorial oversight remains central to our process.
Corrections are welcomed and promptly reviewed.
Government information should be accessible to every resident.
GovNews represents Shore News Network's ongoing investment in responsible artificial intelligence, public-interest journalism, and expanding access to local government information through innovative newsroom technology.
