YouTube, the world’s largest online video content platform, has introduced its latest news-watching experience. This development aims to redefine how users consume news, incorporating the familiarity of the YouTube platform with a more informative, immersive and interactive news-watching experience.
How the watch page works
The new, immersive watch page experience is designed specifically for news stories. This new feature will bring together content from trustworthy sources across various formats, including Shorts, podcasts, video on demand and live streams. Users can now dive deeper into news stories all on one watch page.
You’ll need to find a video with the newspaper icon to access the watch page for a particular topic. Note that this new feature is still slowly rolling out. As of today, mobile users in around 40 countries have access to this feature. On the other hand, desktop users will have to wait.
YouTube’s Shorts innovation program for news
The platform is also releasing the “Shorts Innovation Program for News.” This initiative is designed to improve news organizations’ short-form video capabilities through specialist support and financial grants.
YouTube is collaborating with over 20 organizations across 10 countries, offering a total of $1.6 million USD in financial support. Participants are chosen based on their existing solid presence in long-form video content on the platform but still looking to enhance and expand their Shorts news content.
According to Brandon Feldman and Geoff Samek, YouTube Director of News and Civics Partnerships and Director of Product Management for News, “Our goal with the Shorts Innovation Program is to jumpstart innovative news publishers who are interested in embracing short-form news capabilities, but haven’t had the resources to do so.”
“We look forward to getting feedback from publishers on the opportunities and challenges to short-form content, as we work together to support an innovative news ecosystem.”
YouTube aims to continue working towards its goal of making its platform the best place to engage, learn and discover news.
