diff --git a/goodnews/llm.py b/goodnews/llm.py
index ae8a6a4..0f542a6 100644
--- a/goodnews/llm.py
+++ b/goodnews/llm.py
@@ -206,7 +206,15 @@ class LocalModelClient:
                 names.append(str(model["id"]))
         return names
 
-    def _chat(self, payload: dict) -> dict:
+    def chat_text(self, messages: list[dict]) -> str:
+        """Plain chat completion → the raw message text (no JSON parsing).
+
+        Used for free-form output like summaries; classification uses _chat,
+        which JSON-parses the same content.
+        """
+        return self._raw_content(self._build_payload(messages, None))
+
+    def _raw_content(self, payload: dict) -> str:
         body = json.dumps(payload).encode("utf-8")
         headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
         if self.api_key:
@@ -227,10 +235,12 @@ class LocalModelClient:
             raise RuntimeError(f"could not reach local model at {self.base_url}: {exc.reason}") from exc
 
         try:
-            content = data["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]
+            return data["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]
         except (KeyError, IndexError, TypeError) as exc:
             raise RuntimeError(f"unexpected local model response: {data}") from exc
-        return parse_classifier_json(content)
+
+    def _chat(self, payload: dict) -> dict:
+        return parse_classifier_json(self._raw_content(payload))
 
 
 @dataclass
diff --git a/goodnews/summarize.py b/goodnews/summarize.py
index 01d6b43..6d40ca4 100644
--- a/goodnews/summarize.py
+++ b/goodnews/summarize.py
@@ -72,9 +72,7 @@ def summarize_article(client: LocalModelClient, title: str, snippet: str, body_t
     material = (body_text or snippet or title or "")[:4000]
     user = f"Title: {title}\n\nArticle text:\n{material}\n\nWrite the summary."
     messages = [{"role": "system", "content": _SYSTEM}, {"role": "user", "content": user}]
-    resp = client._chat(client._build_payload(messages, None))
-    content = (resp.get("choices") or [{}])[0].get("message", {}).get("content") or ""
-    return content.strip()[:1200]
+    return (client.chat_text(messages) or "").strip()[:1200]
 
 
 def get_summary(conn: sqlite3.Connection, article_id: int) -> str | None: