On Monday Google officially launched News Lab, one of several new tools Google has launched recently in its attempt to bring technology and journalism together.”Some of the most important information out there today is quality journalism. We believe the democratization of media has created new opportunities and new roles for journalists to play in the media industry,” said Steve Grove, News Lab. “We are really focused on how we can empower journalists and be entrepreneurs through tools, data and programs.”In its announcement, Google said it is helping journalists in three ways: by making Google’s tools (e.g., Maps, YouTube Newswire, Fusion Tables, Earth, Search, etc.) available to journalists and newsrooms around the world, by providing journalists with useful data, and by offering programs that build on innovation and news opportunities in media.
With 3 billion searches performed on Google every day, Google wants journalists to use its tools to identify trends to tell data driven stories. The tools include News Lab, YouTube Newswire, Earth, Search, and Google Trends, as well as tutorials and best practices on how to use Google products in reporting, all housed at the News Lab portal. Google is also developing partnerships and tools with other organizations.For example, Google and Storyful have partnered to create YouTube Newswire to provide a feed of verified, user-generated videos to newsrooms around the world. Google has also partnered with the Center of Investigative Reporting to develop TechRaking, a conference series that will allow journalists and innovators to collaborate on investigative reporting and technology.”We’re at a time when really anything is possible in media. Innovative storytelling is taking place all over the media ecosystem, and we believe the best way to create a more informed society is when journalists and technologists work together,” Grove added.Insider Take:At this early stage, it is hard to formulate a fair assessment of Google’s motives or the appropriateness of its collaboration with journalists via News Lab. On the surface, it sounds like Google wants to support journalism and democracy by leveraging its assets and expertise. That’s a bit idealistic, perhaps, given that the tools promoted on News Lab are related to Google, giving the corporate behemoth more traffic and more control.Another danger is that journalists, who are supposed to be unbiased in their reporting, will become too reliant on one set of tools. If the data is pure, and not skewed in any way by Google’s analysis or presentation of that data, perhaps this concern is unwarranted, but we don’t know that yet. The potential for Google to further assert itself into our lives – both as news consumers and subscription-based media companies – is kind of scary.Take the YouTube Newswire tool, for example. User-created videos are uploaded to YouTube and then verified as legitimate by Storyful before being distributed to newsrooms around the world for use, similar to how the Associated Press shares print stories now. With hundreds of hours of videos uploaded to YouTube every minute, there are inherent challenges in curating and verifying videos. How much verification is enough before a journalist, or newsroom, decides to pick up a story and share the user-created videos? Will Storyful, and Google by extension, have the same standards and training as professional journalists?On the plus side, we love innovation, and we support the idea of Google and journalists using data and technology to create better stories with more sophisticated storytelling tools. Provided the right checks and balances are here to ensure that quality doesn’t win out over quantity, there are some exciting opportunities here.We’ll continue to follow Google as these tools evolve, and we’ll keep you posted on any relevant developments. In the meantime, please let us know what you think about journalists using Google’s News Lab and other tools.
