 "Google News Initiative announces second cohort of startup labs in India")
Tech giant Google on Monday announced the second cohort of the Google News Initiative (GNI) Startup Labs in India, in partnership with Anymind Group and T-Hub.
The three-month-long programme aims to assist independent, early-stage Indian news startups in achieving financial and operational sustainability.
Under the initiative, ten shortlisted news startups from over 100 applicants across the country will cover diverse journalism categories across multiple Indian languages.
"Chosen out of over 110 applicants from across India, the ten news startups cover a diverse array of categories of journalism, including investigative, political, medical, youth, climate, and local news that provides a voice to underrepresented communities," said Google in a press release.
"The diverse cohort features newsrooms from around the country, producing news in multiple Indian languages including English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu," it further explained.
The GNI Startups Lab is a startup acceleration programme by tech giant Google, with a focus on news-based content creators.
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It is designed to help news startups innovate and develop new, more inclusive, and sustainable business models, says the company website. "The GNI Startups Lab India supports high-quality reporting for local communities, niche audiences, and/or previously underserved communities across India."
Google also undertook other initiatives under the GNI initiative in 2023. Through efforts like the GNI India Training Network and Data Dialogue, the company claims to have supported the training of 15,000+ journalists and journalism students in 15+ languages, impacting 240+ newsrooms and media colleges.
"Continuing our firm commitment to support the news industry in tackling the scourge of misinformation, we partnered with subject matter experts to empower journalists and newsrooms with digital tools and skills needed to find, verify, and tell engaging stories while tackling the ever-evolving risk of misinformation," said the company.