AI Boosts Print Production
Artificial Intelligence Integrates into SPORT's Print Edition to Enhance Editorial Efficiency
The Spanish sports daily *SPORT* has launched **Project ESCRIBA**, integrating artificial intelligence into its print edition's composition process to boost efficiency. The project, backed by Spain's government through European **Next Generation EU** funds, makes *SPORT* one of the first sports newspapers in Spain to formally automate print layout with AI SPORT.
The announcement came on June 26, 2026, and covers two approved AI projects for *SPORT*'s publisher, *Ediciones Deportivas Catalanas*: **ESCRIBA** for print automation and **MENTOR**, an AI assistant embedded in the content management system, according to Levante-EMV.
What Project ESCRIBA Actually Does in the Newsroom
Sports journalism faces a daily race against the clock. Journalists update stories constantly throughout the day online. Then, at night, layout artists must manually adapt all that digital content into the fixed, structured format of a print page — a process known as the *Cierre*, or edition close. ESCRIBA uses AI to automate that mechanical work: adjusting text, fitting headlines, and placing stories in the right order, according to Diario Córdoba.
The technical backbone likely comes from tools like **AIDA DXP**, an AI design assistant made by **Protecmedia** that auto-generates print pages directly from web content. Similar tools in the industry claim to save up to **one hour of labor per page**, according to research by Informacion.
Government Funding and the Broader Spanish AI Push
Spain's Secretaría de Estado de Digitalización e Inteligencia Artificial (**SEDIA**) approved ESCRIBA on **April 11, 2025**, listing it under project code TSI-100140-2025-0002. The grant comes from the EU's **Next Generation EU** recovery fund. Spain has committed **€3 billion** to SME digitalization and **€120 million** specifically for AI training programs, according to El Periódico de Aragón.
*SPORT* is not alone. *El País* launched a parallel project called **GuIA** under the same 2025 funding call, using AI to automate tagging and article summaries. The moves signal a wider shift across Spanish media toward government-backed AI adoption, according to La Provincia.
'AI as a Tool, Not a Substitute' — Management's Promise
Prensa Ibérica's editorial director **Ainhoa Moll** has been blunt about the limits of the technology. "The AI must be a tool at the service of the journalist, not a substitute," she said. "It helps us gain time and investigate better, but credibility remains our principal asset," according to La Opinión de Málaga.
*SPORT* director **Joan Vehils** echoes that view, stressing that speed cannot compromise rigor — especially when moving content from a fast-moving digital feed into a structured print page. The goal, management says, is to free journalists from pre-press technical tasks so they can focus on exclusive interviews, investigations, and analysis that AI cannot yet produce, according to LNE.
Critics Warn of a 'Robotized' Print Product and Job Losses
Not everyone is convinced. Industry critics argue that AI can handle routine layout but lacks what analysts call "editorial soul" — the creative judgment behind a striking front page. Some warn the result could be a generic, "robotized" print product, like "asking a calculator to write poetry," according to El Correo Gallego.
Labor groups like the **Federación de Sindicatos de Periodistas (FeSP)** have long warned that "efficiency" in production departments often means fewer layout and pre-press jobs. Academic researchers at the **University of Valladolid** add a transparency concern: readers may never know which parts of a page were AI-generated, which could quietly erode the very credibility management promises to protect, according to El Día.
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