Google announced the launch of a new site called Google News Lab, which is designed to be a home on the web for reporter resources.
With this initiative, Google explains that by working directly with journalists it hope to have a lasting effect on future media:
“That’s why we’ve created the News Lab, a new effort at Google to empower innovation at the intersection of technology and media. Our mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media.”
Google hopes to accomplish this lofty goal in three distinct ways:
Easy access to the tools journalists need
Providing Google data to journalists everywhere, and
Launching programs to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in today’s media industry
The tools which Google is referencing were actually rolled out in a series of announcements last week. They include YouTube Newswire, which also includes WITNESS Media Lab and The First Draft Collection, and the update to Google Trends.
All of the above mentioned tools will be linked to from the News Lab, which can be found at http://newslab.withgoogle.com.
Google has also forged new partnerships focused on re-imagining the future of news and information while empowering new voices in media. Currently, this includes partnerships with Matter, a media accelerator in San Francisco, and Hacks/Hackers, a global community group for developers and journalists.
The News Lab is not just US-based, it also includes teams in the UK, France, and Germany to start with. The overarching goal of this initiative is to keep the world more informed by having technologists and journalists work together.