SPH Media and Google in collaboration to enhance delivery of trusted journalism

[SINGAPORE] News publisher SPH Media and tech company Google have announced a partnership on April 17 in four key areas – AI capability building, content and distribution, talent and ecosystem development, and audience engagement.

In a joint release, the organisations announced their collaboration to elevate SPH Media’s newsrooms with advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, including training in generative AI verification for investigative research and newsroom verification.

Such efforts will also facilitate the implementation of AI-enabled workflows, and responsible AI use in the newsrooms. This will enhance editorial authority while driving greater efficiency through technology, said the companies.

SPH Media is the only media organisation in Singapore to enter into a partnership of this nature with Google. Other notable news organisations with similar collaborations in the past include German news magazine Der Spiegel, American newspaper The Washington Post and British daily The Guardian.

Titles under SPH Media include The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, The Business Times, Berita Harian, Tamil Murasu and Shin Min Daily News.

SPH Media deputy chief executive Kuek Yu Chuang said: “As Singapore’s largest, most trusted and most awarded news publisher, SPH Media is always looking for innovative partnerships to help further its mission. This partnership will make sure that SPH Media’s quality journalism will be up-levelled with best-in-class technology, responsible use of AI, as well as improved and widened engagement with audiences.”

The collaboration will see a newly established News Incubator Program, that will nurture emerging journalism talent from local schools and universities by building a pipeline of young news content creators.

It will also develop a community of AI-literate champions who will support news amplification and verification, developing future-ready journalists and news content creators while upholding strong editorial standards.

The collaboration will also ensure that SPH Media’s content reaches wider audiences promptly as integration with Google’s distribution channels will be strengthened.

There will also be new advertising formats designed to reach out to new audiences and deepen engagement.

SPH Media’s news and content will also strengthen the reliability of Google’s search results, especially for Singapore-specific news reporting or perspectives.

Country managing director for Google Singapore, Ben King, said, “As the AI economy evolves, our collaboration with SPH Media ensures that the news industry remains at the forefront of this transformation. From empowering newsrooms with our advanced Gen AI tools, to nurturing the next generation of journalists, we are working together to build an innovative and sustainable future for the news industry in Singapore.” THE STRAITS TIMES