YouTube Revamps News To Put Focus On Authoritative Sources

YouTube is leaning on authoritative news content at a time when disinformation is at its peak. However, instead of an algorithmic push, the company is overhauling the way viewers can dig into reliable newsworthy information. This is thanks to a new multi-format viewing experience, where a single video paves the way for consuming more related content shared by authoritative outlets.

To start, content posted by trusted media outlets will feature a newspaper icon alongside their title field. Once users click on it and land on the watch screen, a vertical dashboard will automatically pop up from the bottom edge with dedicated rows of related videos around the same topic. For example, if you are watching videos about a natural disaster, you will see a carousel titled "Live news," "Latest updates," "Explanations and commentary," among others. 

The idea is to give users an opportunity to dig deeper into trustworthy content that has been created by news organizations, instead of digging into an information rabbit hole and spiraling into a potential pit of disinformation. The updated video experience is packaged into a bundle called "News Story," and it gives users an opportunity to not only understand the context of an event, but also get live updates and view full-length coverage without having to worry about its veracity. The experience will first roll out on mobile in 40 countries, with web and TV expansions coming soon.

"The news watch page will pull together content from authoritative sources across video on demand, live streams, podcasts, and Shorts," the company says in its press release. 

YouTube's initiative is a solid move, especially at a time when platforms like X (formerly Twitter) have become a dark cesspool of disinformation and fake news. Meta, on the other hand, is engaged in pulling the rug on featuring news coverage on Facebook in many regions, owing to payment tussles. Threads, Meta's rival to X, has also made it clear that it won't lean into news coverage in its bid to one-up its chief competitor.

Earlier this month, EU's Thierry Breton sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, urging him to remove fake and misleading videos around the geopolitical and humanitarian crisis in Israel. In addition to overhauling the news-watching experience, YouTube is also building on its hottest growth avenue. The company has announced the Shorts Innovation Program, which will offer financial grants totaling $1.6 million to more than 20 news outlets including AFP and MediaCorp across 10 countries. 

YouTube will work with these organizations to devise strategies and encourage them to make more short-form videos so that the audience has access to dependable news content. Google's move seems like an emergency plan to avoid criticism when the likes of X have courted hot criticism for allowing disinformation to flourish; be it geopolitics, elections, or health reporting.