Google News Initiative
The Google News Initiative is a global team at Google whose works is to "collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media".
Google describe the goal of the Initiative as "helping journalism thrive in the digital age".[1] The company breaks spending into four areas:[2]
- Battling misinformation
- Telling local stories
- Boosting digital revenues
- Exploring new technologies
The European part of the initiative (the Digital News Initiative), sponsors or collaborates with[3] many hundred media companies and fact checkers, the list above is just a small selection. The DNI Fund has awarded more than €140m to 662 projects in 30 European countries. This certainly influences reporting about Google, among other subject matters.
Of the grantees,none of the companies challenges established narratives in big issues, like geopolitics.
For example, in 2018, while campaigning against the proposed Directive on Copyright in the EU, Google encouraged members of the Initiative's working group to lobby their regional MEPs. The private request was revealed by the Financial Times,[4] itself a recipient of grants from the Initiative,
