YouTube invests in new ways to boost news watching experience

NEW DELHI: Google-owned YouTube on Wednesday announced new ways to help viewers dive deeper into the latest news stories and support journalists in creating dynamic news content.

The platform said it is introducing an immersive watch page experience for news stories on YouTube.

The news watch page will pull together content from authoritative sources across video on demand, live streams, podcasts, and Shorts, allowing viewers to deep dive and explore multiple sources and angles.

“All on one watch page, people will be able to find relevant long-form video, live coverage, and Shorts to quickly catch up,” the company said in a statement.

This feature is rolling out over time for mobile users in approximately 40 countries, with desktop and living room integration to come.

YouTube said it is also launching the Shorts Innovation Programme for News - an initiative to strengthen news organisations’ short-form video capabilities through financial grants and specialist support.

“To start, we’re working with over 20 organisations across 10 countries, providing a total of $1.6 million. Participants are selected based on having a strong existing long-form video presence on YouTube, but are looking to improve and expand their Shorts news content creation,” said the company.

Over the next year, YouTube specialists will work with news organisations, including Univision in the US, AFP in France, and Mediacorp in Singapore on Shorts content strategy and video production best practices.

“Our goal with the Shorts Innovation Programme is to jumpstart innovative news publishers who are interested in embracing short-form news capabilities, but haven’t had the resources to do so,” the company added.