SOM defines the messages, not the infrastructure. A publisher or its operator must run the broker, delivery, ordering, identity, authorisation and support around them.

Does SOM certify bus implementations?

No — SOM defines no conformance tiers; results state exactly which suite passed.

Story Object Model / SOM

The Story Object Model, and the bus it needs.

01 / The standard

What is the Story Object Model?

The Story Object Model is an open message standard for newsrooms. SOM 1.0 was published on 12 September 2026. The specification is available on GitHub.

Every message is a JSON envelope around a payload. The envelope carries som_version, message_id, correlation_id, message_type, timestamp, originating_system and topic.

Message families include story.context — full snapshots with an increasing sequence_number — telling.*, link.*, delivery.media_available, skill.warning.raised and system.audit.

02 / Operations

What SOM leaves to the bus

SOM defines no broker, delivery guarantees, ordering, identity or authorisation. Someone has to run that.

03 / Managed service

Running a SOM bus

SOM leaves broker, delivery, ordering, identity and authorisation to whoever runs the bus. RND can help your newsroom or vendor plan the integration and its operation.

Talk to us about SOM →

04 / Field notes

From the operator’s chair.

27 September 2026

The tools in a newsroom, by category, and where each fits in SOM

Newsroom systems, wires, graphics, automation, prompters, media management, web publishing, verification, AI and dashboards: what each does and how it meets the Story Object Model.

Read the field note →

27 September 2026

The story-centric newsroom workflow, from the wire to every platform, in SOM

How a newsroom turns wires, the diary and tips into stories told on TV, web and social, who does each step, and how the Story Object Model (SOM) describes every stage.

Read the field note →

26 September 2026

MOS vs SOM: what each newsroom standard is for, and why you need both

MOS lets the newsroom system drive the devices that put a rundown on air. SOM shares the story itself with every system around it. The two standards compared, side by side.

Read the field note →

24 September 2026

A bus you are allowed to break

Ten days after writing that somebody has to run the bus, we built one and broke it. Here is what SOM 1.0 taught us from the operator's chair.

Read the field note →

14 September 2026

Who runs the bus?

The Story Object Model gives a newsroom one shared description of a story, and it does that well. What it deliberately does not give you is a broker, a delivery guarantee, an authentication model, or an answer at three in the morning. That half is an operations problem — and operations is what we do.

Read the field note →

05 / FAQ

Questions about SOM buses.

What is the Story Object Model?: The Story Object Model is an open message standard for exchanging structured story context between newsroom systems.
Who runs a SOM bus?: SOM defines the messages, not the infrastructure. A publisher or its operator must run the broker, delivery, ordering, identity, authorisation and support around them.
Does SOM certify bus implementations?: No — SOM defines no conformance tiers; results state exactly which suite passed.

SOM is an open standard maintained by the SOM working group. RND Solutions is not endorsed by it.