The grant will fund Townsquare’s resources, the progression of generation and staff to launch two new virtual news brands. In Tuscaloosa, TuscaloosaThread.com showed up a week ago. The site for the time being in Portsmouth, NH will be presented in October.
Grant money will be spent on editors, reporters, photographers, logo and design and development, and local marketing.
Townsquare CEO Bill Wilson told Radio Ink that the company has had a strong component of Google for several years and that Townsquare is a leading component in many of its beta programs. “Google has noticed that we’ve led the 67 local communities we leveraged by providing critical information and, as a result, Google has invited us to apply for a grant as a component of its “Google News Initiative 1: 1” Partnership Program.
The Google News Initiative evolved in line with Google’s focus on the data industry and aims to work with industry to help journalism thrive in the virtual age. »
Townsquare has followed an extensive application procedure and developed a concept to explore how AM/FM radio stations can create independent and sustainable local virtual news sites in underserved spaces in the United States: “news deserts.”
Wilson said the company called it, “Leveraging the merit of Heritage Radio’s marketing force to create local virtual news brands in under-neglected communities and described how Townsquare’s credibility shaped 67 Central American cities with, in fact, declining local media festivals or not.” it gives us an exclusive opportunity. to supply autonomous virtual news organizations to communities in desperate need.
And, according to Wilson, the Google News Initiative grant will allow Townsquare to expand the most productive recommendations and practices for an evolving style of hyperlocal news with radio support. “At the end of the project, we will expand a multimedia education module and a reading eBook that other radio corporations can use to do the same. We look forward to partnering with other radio corporations to serve the “current deserts” in the same as we do at Townsquare».