News publications often criticize Google when it comes to how it manages news content, but recently the site has introduced a number of initiatives aimed at helping journalists and news publishers.
Last week, Google rolled out three new journalism endeavors – YouTube Newswire, the First Draft Coalition and Witness Media Labs. It also began publishing Google Trends data-sets on its Github page for journalists wanting to do an in-depth analysis of trends data.
Today, Google further extended its olive branch toward journalists and news publications with the announcement of Google News Lab.
“Our mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media,” writes Google News Lab director Steve Grove on Google’s official blog.
“Our mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media.” -Google News Lab Director Steve Grove
According to the announcement, Google News Lab will include short write ups and video tutorials on how newsrooms can make the most out of Google’s resources, including Maps, YouTube, Fusion Tables and Earth to Search.
Google says it is also partnering Matter and Hacks/Hackers – two organizations that work with media startups – to provide financial support, as well as mentoring from Google engineers. Grove says the goal is to build programs that are focused on, “…imagining the future of news and information, as well as on empowering new voices in media.”
The TechRaking series is another initiative Google is rolling out – summits where Google and the Center for Investigative Reporting will work towards designing new investigative tools.
Google says its News Lab is a global effort, currently with teams from the U.S., UK, France and Germany.
The following video provides a quick glimpse of what Google News Lab has to offer:
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