YouTube Announces New Initiatives to Support News and Journalists

YouTube

YouTube announced a pair of new initiatives to support news and journalists:

• Watch Page for News: Viewers can access news stories through a dedicated immersive watch page experience, which compiles videos, live streams, podcasts, and Shorts from diverse and authoritative news sources.

• Shorts Innovation Program for News: YouTube will collaborate with over 20 news organizations across 10 countries, investing $1.6 million to assist them with creating Shorts news content.

Why it Matters: YouTube's focus on news initiatives comes at a time when Meta has scaled back its involvement in news, including its stance against amplifying news on Threads.

With a central hub for diverse yet credible news sources spanning various formats, YouTube can provide viewers a versatile way to stay informed about global events. Whether they prefer real-time updates, in-depth exploration through long-form videos and podcasts, or bite-sized content, YouTube offers options.

By extending financial support and content creation assistance for Shorts, YouTube can encourage more news organizations to invest in this format, which TikTok has demonstrated to be popular for news consumption.