Wednesday, June 05, 2019

Google’s Innovation Challenge funding ideas in news



Google is launching the North AmericanGNI Innovation Challenge, which will fund projects that propel new ideas into the news industry.
The search engine giant is inviting proposals from North American news organizations for projects focused on generating revenue and/or boosting audience engagement for local news.  
A panel of Googlers and other tech industry executives will review the submissions and fund selected projects up to $300,000 and finance up to 70 percent of the total project cost. Discretion on the total project cap may be considered depending on the scale and impact of a large collaborative application, according to Google.
Applications opened May 28. The deadline to submit is July 15, 2019. 
Google says the challenge is open to organizations of every size that aim to produce innovative, original and trustworthy journalism and whose projects focus on encouraging a more sustainable news ecosystem. 
More information is available on the how to apply page on the project. Google is holding a YouTube town hall on the challenge with a team members Q&A on June 25 at 10 a.m. Pacific.
The North America project follows a Google innovation challenge in Asia
The challenges are part of the Google News Initiative (GNI), a Google effort to work with the news industry to “help journalism thrive in the digital age.”
The so-called duopoly of Google and Facebook have engaged with the news industry on a number of fronts. The two powerhouses have topped America's digital ad marketplace in recent years.

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