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Google News Initiative offers free G Suite licenses to small publishers

Small publishers are being offered two years’ free use of Google’s online productivity tools as part of the company’s global news initiative program.

The offer will make 2,000 two-year G Suite licenses available for free to publishers with fewer than 500 employees under the Google News Initiative program.

Google News Initiative was launched earlier this year as part of the company’s $300m program to support publishers and journalists and also includes project collaborations and improved features on Google’s own services to fight fake news.

Previously announced features include Outline from Jigsaw, an open source security tool that lets journalists safely access the internet and keep their communications secure; AI tools for journalists; and AMP Stories, a new open visual storytelling format built on accelerated mobile ages (AMP).

Google also announced that it will open applications for another program offering Google Cloud Platform credits in October.

The company’s offer comes after the federal government announced 186 companies had applied for grants under the regional and small publishers innovation fund.

Under the government’s scheme, small and medium sized grants are available for projects developing new ways of producing and disseminating public interest journalism.

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