Newsday project wins Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge
Newsday is among 33 project winners of the Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge, the search engine's global effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age.
"This funding will help us expand on our mission providing vital data resources to Long Islanders, develop new revenue streams and share our playbook with other news outlets," Newsday Publisher Debby Krenek said in a news release.
The Long Island-based news organization will receive $200,000 from the initiative to curate its extensive collection of data so that it can be used as a resource for nonprofit and business groups, the release said. The winners were chosen from among 215 applicants from the United States and Canada.
Newsday will create a "data vault" that "will be the region's go-to source of public data, original surveys and vital information gathered from its news reports and investigative projects," the release said.
"We’re delighted at the opportunities that will result from working with Google," said Andrea Rothchild, senior vice president of advertising sales at Newsday. "We see infinite possibilities for our clients."
The funding will expand Newsday's nextLI project, the successor of the Long Island Index, a pioneering project by The Rauch Foundation that compiled data about Long Island for 15 years. The Google News Initiative project will be led by nextLI project manager Amanda Fiscina, outreach and engagement manager Coralie Saint-Louis and data journalist Kai Teoh.
"This funding is a recognition of Newsday’s ongoing effort to give Long Islanders the information and interactive tools they need to plan the future of their communities," said Rita Ciolli, editorial page editor and director of the nextLI project.
