Eight South African news creators join Google Growth Lab
· Citizen
Eight independent South African news creators have been selected to join the Sub‑Saharan Africa cohort of the Google News Initiative’s Emerging News Voices Growth Lab.
The three‑month virtual programme brings together 18 organisations from across the region, offering training and mentorship aimed at strengthening digital‑native newsrooms.
Visit michezonews.co.za for more information.
Initiative
Google said the initiative responds to the growing role of creator‑led journalism and social‑first platforms in how audiences, particularly younger ones, consume news.
Marianne Erasmus, News Partnerships Lead for the Middle East and Africa, noted that many of these outlets operate with limited resources compared to established publishers.
“Independent news creators and digital‑native newsrooms are playing an increasingly important role in how Africans, and South Africans in particular, find and understand the news. The Growth Lab is designed to provide practical support as these newsrooms grow,” she said.
Assistance
Participants will receive guidance in four areas: using AI tools such as Gemini and NotebookLM for newsroom tasks; developing video strategies for YouTube and Shorts; building direct reader relationships through newsletters and open‑web presence; and exploring sustainable revenue models.
The Growth Lab builds on research from the Global News Gap Project, which mapped independent African news creators and identified areas where support is most needed.
Media sector
It forms part of Google’s wider engagement with the local media sector.
While the programme offers access to tools and training, its broader impact will depend on whether participants can translate these resources into sustainable business models in a challenging media environment.
Google fined
In November 2025, Google agreed to pay South African media houses R688 million after the Competition Commission’s Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry was completed.
The final report was released after 24 months of extensive evidence gathering, five rounds of information requests, public and in-camera hearings, expert submissions, consultations with industry stakeholders, a consumer survey, a focus group and a provisional report process that enabled broader public input from media publishers, broadcasters, the digital platforms themselves, and academia.
Inquiry
The Inquiry was conducted to establish whether any market features in digital platforms that distribute news media content impede, distort, or restrict competition, or undermine the purposes of the Competition Act, and that have material implications for the news media sector in South Africa.
The Inquiry found that major global platforms (Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, X, and AI companies such as OpenAI) dominate key gateways through which South Africans access information, namely search, social media, and AI-powered tools.