With fake news and citizen journalism taking over, it is hard to keep facts from fiction. That too at a time where so much information is available. But, here comes the global search giant – Google to the rescue.
The launch of Google News..
Google launched its global initiative to curb fake news named Google News Initiative in March 2018. The company has selected 87 organizations from 23 countries, out of which 10 are Indians. The ones to make the cut to his list are Asianet News Media, Bharatiya digital party (BhaDiPa), FACTLY, Gaon Connection, India Today Group, Live Data Visualisation Pvt Ltd, NDTV, NYOOOZ, ShepHertz, and Video Volunteers.
The noble initiative
The initiative was taken to improve journalism in the country. It started off as to journalist to fight against misinformation. In June, Google took an initiative to train 8,000 journalist across English and 6 other Indian languages over the course of next year. Google is ready to provide hands-on assistance to fight fake news by providing journalists with in-depth and hands-on verification training.
The objectives undertaken by the global company include elevate and strengthen quality journalism, evolve business models to drive sustainable growth; and empower news organizations through technological innovation.
Stepping ahead..
The company took a step further by providing $25 million for Youtube specific news. This was step focused on expanding the range of newsroom video operations and to try out new ways to take video journalism on the internet. The objectives range from reaching to a newer and younger audience to exploring and fact-checking information faster and better to avoid misinformation.
This will to challenge fake news is a noble one but as always one tremendous task to accomplish. With Google and its huge network and reach, this seems to be a positive step to curb fake news and misinformation.
