RSS to Shorts: Zero-Touch News Workflow with AI

Turn any RSS feed into 3–5 Shorts a day with zero manual editing. Make.com + GPT + ElevenLabs + Runway + CapCut templates = fast, compliant news clips.

Use Cases

• Tech/finance/AI news where freshness beats originality.
• Creators needing daily output without hiring editors.

Stack

• Automation: Make.com (or Zapier) to orchestrate.
• NLP: GPT for summaries and titles.
• Voice: ElevenLabs “newscaster” tone.
• Visuals: Runway/Pika for B-roll; Unsplash API for stills.
• Assembly: CapCut template (9:16) for captions/logo/B-roll.
• Publish: YouTube Data API (optionally TikTok/IG later).

Automation Flow

1. Trigger: RSS new item → Make.com webhook.
2. Summarize: GPT to 80–120 words, add “Source: …” credit.
3. Narrate: ElevenLabs, speed 1.0, neutral newscaster tone.
4. Visuals: Runway text-to-video; fallback: Unsplash stills per keyword.
5. Assemble: CapCut template with captions, logo, and B-roll; 35–55 seconds, 9:16.
6. Upload: YouTube API title “[Keyword] – 60-sec update | Date”, tags include `news shorts`.

Templates & Naming

• Filename: `source-date-keyword.mp4`.
• Description first line cites source; keep it short for mobile truncation.
• Captions: large, left-aligned; key fact in first 3 seconds.

Compliance & Safety

• No verbatim copying; paraphrase and credit the source.
• Replace sensitive/graphic visuals with abstract B-roll; avoid licensed news footage.
• Cap output to 3–5 per day to avoid spam signals.

Monitoring & Iteration

• Retry failed runs up to 3 times; log videoId/URL for reversions.
• Use retention curves to tighten the first 5 seconds (visual hook + subtitle hook).
• Keep a source ledger (URLs) for DMCA responses and audits.