April 15-16: New availability of resources to benefit journalists

The Google News Initiative was first introduced back in 2018 to bring together Google products, partnerships, and programs to build a better future for news

Requirements for Google's Journalism Emergency Relief Fund announced

April 15: Google announced the launch of a global Journalism Emergency Relief Fund through the Google News Initiative to support small and medium-sized news organizations producing original news for local communities.

The goal of the fund is to provide support for journalism in local communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eligibility requirements for news organizations to qualify for funding include:

· Being a small and medium-sized news organization producing original news for local communities during this time of crisis.

· Having a digital presence and have been in operation for at least 12 months.

· Employing a newsroom between 2 -100 full-time employee journalists.

Applications are being accepted from April 15th – April 29th.

The Biggest News Story in the World Costs Journalists Their Jobs

April 15: The Florida Times-Union is one of many news organizations to cut jobs and furlough journalists because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg.

Andrew Pantazi, a reporter from the Florida Times-Union, was forced to take one unpaid week off for the last couple of months. Journalists have had to sacrifice pay at an unfortunate time where the public needs information, but economic reasons continue to sideline journalists.

Large news corporations such as The New York Times and NewsCorp have also lost money from advertisers as well.

Florida Times-Union employees will have to take 15 days off for the next three months due to the economic burden from the pandemic.

Google teams with Stanford to make interactive coronavirus maps for journalists

April 15:The New York Post reported that Google will be teaming up with Stanford to make interactive coronavirus maps.

The Case Mapper Project, created by a collaboration between Google and Stanford’s Big Local News Program, will allow journalists to easily embed updated maps of coronavirus cases into their stories.

The maps help to aggregate data from around the world and localize the information.

The Case Mapper Project is one of the first projects Google has launched after pledging 6.5 million to help fight coronavirus misinformation.

An example of an interactive map of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania