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The Digital News Initiative (DNI) is a European initiative launched by Google, to support high quality journalism via new technologies and innovation. It includes an “Innovation Lab” worth up to 15 million Euros, which in its first year issued grants to 461 project proposals from different news organisations across Europe. A significant feature is that the money given to each participating media company is based on the revenue they make from their content.

This move was taken as a response to the increasing number of journalists preparing stories on specific topics and then having to rely on other outlets for any facts or images. In effect this creates a bias in the output from the newsroom. One challenge for the digital news initiative is to convince Europeans that investing in this level of journalism is in their interests. For this reason Google has established a board which consists of former executives from the European commission, the European Parliament and the European media groups.

Joana Bova, the coordinator of the European digital news initiative, said that investing in the initiative can only benefit publishers. “A free web platform makes it easy for readers and consumers to access and share information from a range of different media and publishers. This provides an enormous opportunity for European companies to create a more interactive and transparent online user experience that will appeal to all age groups and sectors.”

There is also a set of digital trends that are likely to influence the way news is covered in coming years, especially as it becomes even more digitalised. The working group that is running the European digital news initiative is currently focusing on five areas that they think are of particular importance in the coming years. These include developments such as the integration of visually driven websites and online distribution services such as Netflix.

In agency to concerns about shrinking resources, the publishers agree to work more actively on reducing the “networks of distribution” which they say is now a major problem in their industry. They will therefore have to collaborate more actively with their customers and other stakeholders in order to increase access to digital content across the market place. They will also need to consider the impact that the shift to DPI will have on press freedom. They are determined to continue providing platforms for journalists to deliver stories, and claim the commercial benefits of doing so. agency will be used as a tool to increase the penetration of digital news and increasing access to digital content.

The main areas of focus for the publishers will be the areas of digital news, digital magazine publishing, internet journalism and business interests. These are all key development areas and will provide opportunities for collaboration and cross-activity. A strong platform for publishing and promoting the news is an increasingly important factor in the success of the European Digital News Initiative. A European digital magazine will allow for a greater diversity in content and therefore will be more successful in the digital news industry. agency increasing presence of business and government news agencies will enhance the credibility of the platform.

The European Journalism Register expects growth in the years to come as publishers consolidate and adapt to the emerging needs of the industry. The register welcomes the European Journalism Association’s declaration that they will now work with the CJI in developing new quality indicators to measure the performance and quality of the sector. Other organizations have also made similar declarations. This signals a move towards greater transparency in the way the industry measures itself against standards set by international standards bodies. The Association is concerned about the increasing lack of balance and objectivity in online and press media.

There are scope and opportunity for European journalism to contribute to this debate. It should not be seen as an autonomous media but rather a part of a wider EU-wide effort to promote global journalism to counterbalance the increasing dominance of global news and advertising. There are many publishers involved in the European Journalism Register which has developed a mechanism to identify new publications. This requires information from you, the reader. If you are a budding journalist or newspaper publisher, get involved!