nextLI powered by Newsday named Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge recipient

Newsday is among 33 project winners receiving funding from the Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge, a global effort from Google to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. The Innovation Challenge received 215 applications from the US and Canada.

“Newsday is thrilled to be working together with Google. This funding will help us expand on our mission providing vital data resources to Long Islanders, develop new revenue streams and share our playbook with other news outlets,” said Newsday Publisher Debby Krenek.

“We’re delighted at the opportunities that will result from working with Google,” said Andrea Rothchild, Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales at Newsday. “We see infinite possibilities for our clients.”

“This funding is a recognition of Newsday’s ongoing effort to give Long Islanders the information and interactive tools they need to plan the future of their communities,” said Rita Ciolli, Newsday’s Editorial Page Editor and Director of the nextLI project.

The GNI funding will allow Newsday to curate its extensive collection of data so that it can be used as a resource for non-profit and business groups. The result will be a “data vault” that will be the region’s go-to source of public data, original surveys and vital information gathered from its news reports and investigative projects. The new vault’s unique stockpile of regional datasets will enable us to redefine how media organizations engage with their many audiences. Community groups will be able to access the data, our experts and tools to advocate for their needs. Clients will be offered tiers of concierge data services to propel their enterprises forward.

The funding will expand Newsday’s nextLI project, which commissions original research and invites Long Islanders to discuss the future here. nextLI is the successor to the Long Island Index, a pioneering project by The Rauch Foundation that compiled data about Long Island for 15 years. The GNI project will be headed by project manager of nextLI Amanda Fiscina with nextLI’s outreach and engagement manager Coralie Saint-Louis and data journalist Kai Teoh. Learn more about this project and the others selected here.