YouTube is intensifying its efforts to boost news content from what it thinks are “credible sources” amid an era when people are demonstrating an aversion to traditional mass media outlets.
Currently, the video sharing giant is launching a revamped user interface designed to enhance the viewing experience by introducing additional news-oriented content suggestions when users are engaged in watching news videos. Google, the parent company of YouTube, plans to channel $1.6 million into increasing the volume of news-oriented content on its shortform video feature, Shorts.
To give an insight, an example of this new feature entails that a user watching a video about floods in Pakistan published by PBS, will be directed towards more related videos about the same event. This also includes major news publishers such as The Associated Press, CBS Evening News, and Sky News. Initial deployment of this improved watch page experience will take place across around 40 countries on mobile and will later be extended to desktop and living room interfaces.
Besides the interface overhaul, YouTube also intends to invest a substantial $1.6 million to boost the creation of shortform news content on its Shorts service in partnership with 20 organizations across 10 nations. This initiative will involve collaboration with news outlets that already generate longform content for YouTube.
Related: New YouTube CEO Neal Mohan supports censorship of “misinformation” boosting “authoritative” sources
The essence of digital platforms like YouTube lies in their ability to offer a level playing field for all creators, regardless of their size or affiliation. However, with this new venture, YouTube risks alienating a significant portion of its content creator community as it moves to give more real estate to its legacy competitors.
It may also inadvertently stifle the diversity of perspectives essential for a well-rounded public discourse, which, many years ago, was seen as one of the digital space’s most profound advantages over traditional media outlets.
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