 Philipp Schnidler |
Google today unveiled a $300M campaign to help mainstream media "thrive in the digital age," according to a blog post by chief business officer Philipp Schindler.
The search engine, which took heat for distributing misleading and fake news during the presidential campaign, says its Google News Initiative will strengthen quality journalism, elevate business models to drive sustainable growth and empower media through technical innovation.
Google, which claims to be combatting fake news on its own platforms, will promote authoritative content and work with publishers to launch DisInfo Lab to identify misinformation in breaking news.
It is teaming with the Poynter Institute, Stanford University and Local Media Assn. to develop "MediaWise," a program to teach digital media literacy to young people.
Schindler says Google, which controls the lion's share of the digital ad space, is committed to helping publishers diversify their revenues base.
For instance, is company will allow users to purchase newspaper subscriptions via their own Google accounts. The New York Times, Financial Times and Washington Post are among papers to sign up for this service.
According to Schindler, GNI demonstrates that news and quality journalism is a top priority for Google.
"We know that success can only be achieved by working together, and we look forward to collaborating with the news industry to build a stronger future for journalism," he wrote.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
