At our conference, Building the Future of Community Journalism (BFCJ18) in January, Matt Cooke, head of international at Google News Labs delivered a practical talk on how to get the most out of Google tools for newsgathering, reporting and storytelling. From verification, data journalism, research and resources, to using maps to tell stories, the presentation was eye-opening, to say the least.
Below is a list of all the tools Matt explored at the conference with the additional slides from his presentation linked at the bottom of the article.
Tools & Resources
Research & Verification
- Google Advanced Search – A form to help refine your Search, more details here
- Google Reverse Image Search – Help to verify images you find online, on social or via email
- Verification techniques with Google Earth, Google StreetView and Google Translate
- Google Scholar – A digital library specifically for academic files and case law reports
- Google Public Data Explorer – A digital library for researchers, see datasets visualized for you to interpret and embed
Additional tools to help you verify digital content
- Reverse Image Search with tineye.com
- Search via multiple social media platforms at once – Storyful Multisearch
- Search for relevant hashtags on Instagram – Picodash
- Verify who owns a website – Who.Is
- Amnesty International USA provides ‘ YouTube Data Viewer ’
- Frame by Frame Chrome extension helps you view each frame of an uploaded video
- Type a location into GeoSearchTool, it’ll provide tagged video content from that area
- Check pictures used as a thumbnail on YouTube with this Reverse Image extension
- Check historical web pages and cached information on WayBack
- Match sunrise and sunsets on images and videos using Suncalc.net
Google Trends
- Compare Search terms in a country and timeframe of your choice
- Click ‘Explore’ in the menu on your local site: co.uk/trends
- Click on the arrow to share, embed or download a CSV file
- Compare Search terms: The Telegraph compares political figures
- Focusing on the top questions: BBC Radio 1 looks to North Korea
- Focusing on the top locations: The Sun heads to Essex
Examples of digital innovations:
- Berliner Morgenpost – bus route M29
- The Guardian presents 6×9
- BBC News in Paris
- KRO-NCRV reports with a 360 perspective
- The Washington Post explores immersive audio
- YLE Kioski imagines a ‘war-torn’ Helsinki
Find more training options and support at g.co/newslab and request training for your newsroom at [email protected]
Tools & Resources
- YouTube Creator Academy presents ‘How not to shoot in 360’
Using Maps? Visit our Geo tools site for assistance on Google Maps, MyMaps and Earth Pro
