Google Launches AI Academy to Revolutionize Indian Journalism

Initiative partners with IIMC to equip journalists with cutting-edge skills

Google is launching a comprehensive AI Skills Academy to empower Indian journalists and media educators with advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, aiming to transform newsroom efficiency and storytelling.

Bridging the AI Gap in Newsrooms

The 10-week hybrid training program, a collaboration between Google News Initiative and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) with its Department of New Media, will focus on building foundational AI knowledge. Participants will gain hands-on experience with Google’s AI tools, including NotebookLM, Gemini, AI Studio, and Pinpoint.

These tools are designed to streamline workflows, boost productivity, and foster more immersive and varied forms of journalism. The program will also involve data intelligence firm How India Lives, offering deep dives, practical exercises, mentorship, and problem-solving sessions.

Empowering Future Journalists

The academy will explore practical AI applications such as transcribing interviews, extracting insights from diverse data formats, analyzing large datasets, and tailoring content for multilingual and cross-format audiences. The initiative specifically targets media educators and students across IIMC’s six campuses.

“Our early engagements with small, medium and large newsrooms have shown us the powerful impact that Pinpoint, NotebookLM and Gemini can have in transcription, translation and presentations, including using and deploying code. We are excited to partner with IIMC to make our lessons evermore relevant to the widest possible cohort of users, both within newsrooms and among students and academics.”

—Durga Raghunath, Head of News Partnerships at Google India

This push aims to cultivate a generation of AI-literate journalists ready to navigate the evolving media landscape.

Fostering Responsible Innovation

Nimish Rustagi, Registrar at IIMC, highlighted the significance of the collaboration in equipping media professionals and educators. He stated, “As AI transforms journalism, this initiative will help them stay ahead. We intend to promote responsible innovation and enhance creativity in storytelling.”

“By setting up the AI Skills Academy with Google, IIMC is preparing journalism and communication students to thrive in an AI-powered media ecosystem. This initiative will enable them to harness cutting-edge tools for data journalism and content creation, fostering innovation with integrity.”

—Prof. Anubhuti Yadav, Head of the Department of New Media at IIMC

The program’s focus on practical use cases and responsible AI implementation is crucial, as studies show that AI adoption in media can increase content production efficiency by up to 40% for certain tasks (McKinsey, 2023).