Google supports the podcast campaign of British regional newspapers

Google has provided financial support for a podcasting initiative of two of the UK's largest regional newspaper publishers, as part of an initiative to "help secure the future of local journalism" in the UK. United Kingdom.

Reach and JPIMedia, formerly known as Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press respectively, said Thursday that the Google News Initiative is providing € 500,000 for the launch of Laudable, a project to "launch local news in audio form". . The funds will also be used to identify ways to make audio projects commercially sustainable.

According to the Gazette de la Presse, the fall in advertising revenue has particularly affected local newspaper publishers. In 2005, 245 titles were closed in the UK between 2005 and 2018. David Higgerson, Head of Audience at Reach, said that Laudable's goal was to provide local advertisers with a platform allowing them to connect to their audiences through the audio.

But he added that podcasts could be a way to reduce the pressure to produce so-called "snappy bait" items, the proliferation of which has been encouraged by digital advertising models. "Evidence-based podcasts provide a viable source of revenue for distressed content in an online world," said Higgerson. "Programmatic advertising does not reward quality journalism; podcasts can. "

Louable aims to create "cross-company podcasts" involving journalists from several publishers. It joins the Entale podcasting platform, which adds images and other content for an "interactive experience". She also said that she welcomed other groups of regional and local newspapers.

Higgerson said the groups, which own brands such as Manchester Evening News and The Scotsman, would use some of the money to hire new employees, but that one strategy had not been still been developed. "I would be disappointed if, in June, we can not say in which regions we will work first, how many people we will recruit and what strategy we will have," he said.

Tortoise, the "slow news" launched by James Harding, former head of information at the BBC, also received an undisclosed amount close to € 500,000. The money will go towards building a "digital product" that will allow its members to participate in press room editorial conferences.

Last summer, Google launched its News Initiative, during which it pledged $ 300 million over three years to support business models of digital journalism. This decision comes after the company was criticized by the social network Facebook for its roles as guardian of information and news on the Internet and for its dominance of the digital advertising market.