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Google Goes After Fake News

Mar 20, 2018  •  Post A Comment

Google just took the wraps off a new initiative aimed at fighting fake news and supporting real journalism. Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler introduced the Google News Initiative in a lengthy post on the Google blog.

The company also released a video today introducing the initiative, which you can watch below.

Schindler avoids the use of the term “fake news” in his post, but it is clearly driving the initiative.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish what’s true (and not true) online,” he writes. “Business models for journalism continue to change drastically. The rapid evolution of technology is challenging all institutions, including the news industry — to keep pace.

“We need to do more. That’s why we’re launching the Google News Initiative (GNI), our effort to help journalism thrive in the digital age. The GNI signifies a major milestone in Google’s 15-year commitment to the news industry, and will bring together everything we do in collaboration with the industry — across products, partnerships, and programs — to help build a stronger future for news.”

The initiative is focused on three objectives:

  • Elevate and strengthen quality journalism.
  • Evolve business models to drive sustainable growth.
  • Empower news organizations through technological innovation.

Google is launching the Disinfo Lab alongside the First Draft, a project of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, to combat misinformation and disinformation during elections and breaking news moments. The company is also partnering with the Poynter Institute, Stanford University and the Local Media Association to launch MediaWise, a U.S. project designed to improve digital information literacy for young consumers to help them distinguish fact from fiction online.

Also among the launches detailed today is Outline, an open-source tool from Jigsaw that lets news organizations provide journalists more secure access to the Internet.

The company also unveiled a number of other details and initiatives. Click on the link above to read the full announcement on the Google blog.

Here’s the video introducing the Google News Initiative …

One Comment

  1. Fake news to them being anything the DNC does not approve.

    We get it, Google.

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