JournalismFree
Draft a profile from your interview
Paste your interview transcript and notes about one person, and get a profile draft built from your reporting and fair to the person it describes.
River drafts a profile of one person from your interview transcript, notes and other reporting. It finds the thread that makes the person worth reading about, opens with a moment from your notes, and builds the piece from their words and what others told you, with every quote copied exactly.
A profile is only as good as its fairness and accuracy. River describes the person only as your notes do, keeps facts about their life tied to a source, and flags claims you should confirm, such as dates, credentials or achievements the subject described about themselves.
It is for reporters, student journalists, alumni and company magazine writers, and newsletter writers profiling someone. For stories about an issue built from many sources, River's reported feature draft is the better fit.
What makes a profile ring true
Strong profiles show a person rather than list their accomplishments. They use scenes the reporter witnessed, details of how the person talks and works, and the voices of people who know them. The best ones find a single thread, a tension or a question, that runs through the person's life and gives the piece its shape.
Self-description needs checking. When a subject says they founded something, won something, or did something first, confirm it with a record or another source. Profiles are a common source of corrections because the subject's own account is easy to take on trust.
Fairness cuts both ways. A profile need not flatter, and it should include complications the reporting turns up. If it includes criticism of the subject, the subject should get a chance to respond. Physical description and personal details should be relevant and come from the reporter's own observation.
How it works
Paste the interview
The transcript or notes, plus anything others told you.
Say who and why now
Optionally, a line on the person and the occasion.
Get the draft
A full profile draft plus a list of facts to confirm.
Revise in chat
Ask for a different opening, a shorter version, or a new section.
What you get
- A profile draft with an opening from a real moment in your notes
- The person's own words used exactly, alongside others who know them
- A central thread that gives the piece its shape
- Facts about the person's life tied to a source, and self-described claims flagged to confirm
- A list of follow-up questions and checks before publication
Common questions
Will River describe things I did not see?
No. Physical descriptions and scenes come only from your notes. If the draft would benefit from a scene you do not have, River suggests what to observe next time rather than inventing one.
What if the person told me something I cannot verify?
River attributes it to them and flags it for checking. Claims about credentials, awards, firsts and dates are worth confirming with a record or another source before publication.
Can a profile include criticism of the person?
Yes, if your reporting supports it. The draft attributes the criticism, and if the subject has not responded to it in your material, River flags that so you can give them the chance.
How long is the draft?
As long as your outlet needs; tell River the length. Otherwise it writes what the reporting supports and says what it chose.
Draft a profile from your interview
Describe what you need, add any files you have, and your workspace opens with the work already underway.