Google Introduces News Lab For Journalists

(RTTNews) - Google is offering a new tool to journalists for better search and to embellish a story. Google says its News Lab will help increase audience engagement and better visualization.

The search engine giant said its teams in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany are involved in creating the News Lab.

Advanced Search of the News Lab is aimed at better results, while Reverse Image Search is to find and verify photographs and to uncover the back stories. Public Data Explorer can be used for compelling visuals, Google Consumer Surveys for web surveys and Google News Archive for accessing historical digital publications and scanned newspapers. Google Translate and many other existing tools are also incorporated into the News Lab.

Google said, the interactive Google My Maps, YouTube, Google Earth Pro, etc. are useful for newsrooms for reporting as well as storytelling.

In its blog, Google said it is focused on increasing the number of media start-ups in the marketplace. Another focus is on user-generated content or citizen reporting, a game-changing force these days. The company is also working with First Draft, Witness Media Lab and YouTube Newswire for generating more and more first hand news content from citizen reporters around the globe.

Steve Grove, director of News Lab said, "We believe we can create a more informed world if technologists and journalists work together—and we're excited to be part of the effort."