Google Donates $5 Million in Support of Digital Journalism

In an effort to spur innovation in digital journalism, Google announced on Oct. 26 a $5 million donation to help news publishers in the digital age.

Acknowledging the importance of reliable journalism for everyone, Google will donate $5 million worth of grants to non-profit journalism organizations to help foster new ideas to support digital journalism, reach bigger audiences and make online news more engaging through innovation.

"We hope these grants will help new ideas blossom and encourage experimentation. We look forward to working with the journalism community to help digital news move forward," said Nikesh Arora, president of global sales operations and business development at Google.

Google has granted $2 million to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, host of the annual Knight News Challenge, a program that funds innovative ideas to develop journalism tools and platforms.

Alberto Ibargüen, president of the Knight Foundation, talks about Google's donation to support its innovation efforts. 10/26/2010

The recipients of the remaining $3 million will be announced early next year. So far, Google aims to give the money to international journalism organizations with the same desire to boost the flow of reliable news.

I find it very valuable that such an influential and important company as Google sees the importance of journalism and, even more important, supports it.

Hopefully, this initiative will be followed by even more donations not only from Google, but from other profitable companies that acknowledge the need for innovation within news organizations and the enhancement of digital journalism.

Video Source: Knight Foundation - Vimeo Channel