Google launches Indian Languages Program for small and medium local news publishers

Google has launched the Indian Languages Program for small and medium-sized local news publishers in India. Introduced under the Google News Initiative (GNI), the program will support English and eight Indian languages like Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. GNI is Google’s digital skills training program for journalists and newsrooms in tackling misinformation.

Under the Indian Languages Program, a select pool of news publishers will be offered training and funding to improve their operations and reach more readers. The publishers would be trained in measuring the performance parameters like core web vitals and page speed. They will also be guided on content formats, building additional revenue enhancement solutions, and mobile usability. They will be offered consultations and technical implementation support for building a best-in-class user experience for their portal and along with a customised roadmap.

Indian language news organisations registered in the country with an operational website are eligible to apply to the program. They must have at least 12 months of continuous operation with a full-time employee count of 50 or more. Eligiblenews organistions, which include digital natives, broadcasters, and traditional news organisations, may apply within June 30 deadline.

The selected publishers will undergo various activities including virtual workshops and guest talks. They will also attend Google-led sessions on website optimisation, YouTube, and data analytics to make business decisions.

The Google News Initiative Training Network in India was started in 2018. In partnership with DataLEADS, the initiative has trained over 54,000 journalists and students in more than 15 languages. Last year, Google announced that it will launch a Fact Check Academy to verify news and data.