Browsing by Author "Nartise, Ilze"

Studies have shown that the platform companies Google and Facebook have a disruptive nature in how media companies organise their work, and some researchers claim they are a duopoly in digital advertising. However, Google says it supports media by “helping” media industries through funding and training. This study argues that by examining what media projects Google supports, we get a good overview of what challenges journalism is currently facing and the solutions for tackling these problems, and ultimately, how this connects to Google as a platform company and to its narrative. This study aims to investigate which media industry challenges Google tries to address by financial support and to examine the solutions to these challenges proposed in accepted Digital News Innovation Fund (DNI) projects. Thus, this research asks: What are the challenges for media and journalists that Google Digital News Initiative is addressing? What specific challenges get the largest support? What are the main solutions proposed in projects supported by Google DNI? Based on the review of the literature about the relationships between platform companies and media and responses to challenging conditions in the ecosystem of platforms, qualitative content analysis was used to examine the last round of the DNI Fund’s 102 projects. The analysis demonstrated that Google supports projects that classify in three directions: Business Model Innovations, Product Development in Editorial Processes and Ecosystem Development Approaches. One of the most interesting findings shows that Google favours supporting projects that concern solutions for the increase in audience subscriptions rather than addressing what publishers have concerns about the most – Google’s domination over the digital advertisement. The results open the discussion about the possible signs of Google’s support in media industries being a “self-help” for their mission of organising the world’s information. Further research is needed to identify what is the content of the other projects Google presents as “help” to media industries.