Getting started with Nota: A guide for newsrooms

Nota delivers AI-powered assistance designed specifically for newsroom workflows, focusing on enhancing journalist-created content. Unlike generic AI writing tools, Nota works from articles journalists have already written to generate headlines, social media posts, SEO optimization and summaries. Nota only learns from data it has access to, so newsrooms have more control training it to match their styles and voice.

The tool’s newsroom origins show in thoughtful details like C2PA content tagging and human oversight. For resource-constrained newsrooms that need to boost publishing capacity without compromising editorial standards, this focused approach beats feature-heavy alternatives that lack journalism-specific safeguards.

Here’s how to get up and running quickly.

Step 1: Setup and pricing

Nota offers a grant-backed pricing tailored to the needs of small newsrooms. Qualifying outlets (those with fewer than seven full-time newsroom employees and annual revenue under $250,000) can access their suite of AI tools for $99/month. Small business plans start at $349/month.

Your subscription includes:

• Dashboard access for all team members
• Browser extensions for workflow integration
• Direct CMS plugins (WordPress, Newspack, Arc XP)
• Unlimited article processing
• All AI features included

Getting started with Nota:

• Create your organization account at heynota.com
• Add team members through the dashboard
• Install browser extension or CMS plugin
• Set up your editorial guidelines

Pro Tip: Designate one team member as your Nota lead. Choose someone comfortable with technology who can serve as the primary contact and training coordinator. “You need that champion internally,” says Nota CEO Josh Brandau.

Step 2: Upload articles

Getting content into Nota:

• Copy and paste articles directly into the dashboard
• Use the browser extension on published stories
• Connect your CMS for automatic import
• Upload multiple articles in batch

Privacy tip: Nota operates in a closed system and doesn’t train on your content without explicit consent. Review their data handling practices against your newsroom’s privacy policies.

Step 3: Train on your voice

Initial training:

• Upload 10-15 representative articles to establish your tone
• Use clean, well-structured articles for best results
• Include diverse content types (news, features, opinion)
• Review and refine initial suggestions

Editing Tools:

• Adjust tone settings in dashboard
• Save preferred headline styles
• Create custom social media templates
• Set SEO keyword preferences

Step 4: Use of AI features

Generate content enhancements:

• Click generate for instant headline options
• Create social posts with platform-specific formatting
• Produce meta descriptions and excerpts
• Generate newsletter summaries

Reversion content:

• Transform long-form articles into social content
• Creat platform-specific versions (TikTok, Instagram, X)
• Generate newsletter excerpts
• Produce SMS news alerts

Pro tip: Use reversioning strategically — understand each platform’s audience before adapting content.

Step 5: Scale workflow

Workflow integration:

• Set editorial approval checkpoints
• Create team templates for consistency
• Track time savings and engagement metrics
• Provide feedback to improve suggestions

Pro tip: Establish AI usage policies early, and be transparent with your audience. Research shows that while disclosure alone may not increase trust, audiences overwhelmingly expect it — and clear policies paired with human oversight help mitigate skepticism.

Is Nota a good fit for your organization?

Choose Nota if you:

• Want AI tools built specifically for journalism workflows
• Require human oversight and approval processes
• Need content versioning across multiple platforms
• Have limited resources for social media and SEO optimization
• Want to maintain editorial control while boosting efficiency
• Qualify for grant programs as a small local newsroom

Consider alternatives if you need:

• Real-time transcription or live content generation
• Advanced video editing capabilities
• Integration with specialized newsroom tools (assignment desks, etc.)
• Advanced analytics and performance tracking
• Tools that work independently without human oversight
• Tools for initial content creation rather than enhancement

Pro tips and known issues

Start small: It’s important not to try to tackle everything at once. Start with one or two of the tools, allow your team to become comfortable with the workflow, then gradually expand usage.

“It’s a process,” says Brandau. “To see the full value you need to use it at scale, consistently.”

Continue refining Nota’s suggestions by providing feedback on headlines, excerpts and summaries that don’t match your newsroom’s voice.

Maximize AI output quality: Clean, well-structured copy produces better results. Invest time in the beginning to train Nota on your newsroom’s voice with representative articles.

Known limitations: Custom pricing can make budget planning challenging for smaller newsrooms, and there is limited integration with specialized newsroom software beyond major CMS platforms. Nota also requires consistent human oversight. It’s not a “set and forget” solution.

Alternatives

ChatGPT/Claude:

• Has free versions
• More flexible for varied content creation
• Requires extensive prompting
• Lacks journalism-specific features and safeguards

Jasper:

• Broader marketing-focused feature sets
• Self-service pricing models
• Less specialized for news content and workflows
• May require more customization for journalism standards

Custom solutions:

• API access to OpenAI/Anthropic for larger organizations
• Requires technical development resources
• More control over data handling and customization
• Higher upfront costs but potentially lower long-term expenses

• Category: Getting Started Guides
• Tag: AI, Content production