Google has poured more than $39.5 million into journalism since the pandemic began.
The finances have been allocated across 5,600 in 115 countries as part of the Google News Initiative Journalism Emergency Relief Fund.
“When COVID-19 was turning the world upside down, we didn’t know what to expect,” said Google News Initiative Innovation head Ludovic Blecher. “The intent was simple: help address a very real need from local publishers and news sites globally that are facing financial hardship as a result of the economic and advertising downturn.”
However, although the funding has helped newsrooms, it also highlights the news industry’s growing dependence on advertising revenues.
Blecher further added that Google received 12,000 applications for the fund.
