Google invests $5 million in journalism

Google is often criticized for contributing to stealing the audience, if not the contents, of journalism, but in a move this week, the internet giant is making a contribution to help the practice of journalism, if not the platform of print.

And it's making the move because of journalism's importance to democracy.

"Journalism is fundamental to a functioning democracy," Gogle said in its blogged announcement. "So as media organizations globally continue to broaden their presence online, we’re eager to play our part on the technology side.

"We’ve granted $2 million to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has a proven track record of supporting programs that drive innovation in journalism," they continued. "It will use $1 million to support U.S. grant-making in this crucial area. The other $1 million will augment the Knight News Challenge, which is accepting funding proposals from anyone, anywhere in the world, until December 1. Now in its fifth year, the News Challenge has supported projects like DocumentCloud, which aims to bring more investigative-reporting source material online so anyone can find and read it."

Details on the remaining $3 million to be invested internationally will be forthcoming early next year, Google said.