Building a News Monitor

Building a news monitor follows the same architecture pattern, with a few key differences:

News Data Sources

Instead of Reddit's API, you'd use one of these:

1. News APIs (Recommended)

  • NewsAPI.org - Aggregates 80,000+ sources, easy filtering by topic/keyword

  • Exa.ai - AI-native search, great for finding specific content types

  • Google News RSS - Free, no API key needed, but less structured

2. RSS Feeds

  • Direct feeds from publications you care about

  • Free but requires managing multiple sources

What Changes

Simplified News Monitor Approach

For news, you typically don't generate responses—you generate summaries and alerts:

Scan News → Classify by Relevance → Score Priority → Format Alert → Deliver to Slack

Example Slack alert structure:

🔴 HIGH PRIORITY: Competitor News

**[Competitor] Announces New Product Line**
Source: Reuters | 15 min ago

Summary: [AI-generated 2-sentence summary]

Relevance: Product directly competes with [Your Product]
Suggested Action: Review with Product team

[Read Article] [Dismiss] [Escalate]

Prompt to Get Started

I want to build a news monitoring automation that:

1. Scans for news about: [YOUR TOPICS/COMPETITORS/INDUSTRY]
2. Classifies articles as: Breaking News, Competitor Updates, Industry Trends, Regulatory Changes
3. Prioritizes by: Direct business impact (high/medium/low)
4. Delivers to Slack with: Summary, source, relevance explanation, suggested action

Help me define the classification criteria and Slack alert format.
Francesca Tabor