Google mapping tools
in the newsroom
Part 1
Highway Africa 2010
Compiled and presented by Jackie Rajuai
Google Geo Products
Google Maps
Google Panoramio
Geo-political maps of the globe, satellite
imagery and hybrid views.
Locates points of interest, roads/highways,
traffic, streetviews and can be used to find
directions from Point A to Point B
Explore places through photography; organize
photos with tags
Google SketchUp
Create, modify or share 3D models
Google Earth
Fly over Earth's terrain and view
satellite imagery, 3D views; dive into
the oceans or gaze into far off
galaxies
Google Map Maker
Map the world. You can now map 181 countries!
Google products that can enhance the experience of Geo products
Gmail
YouTube: Host related videos
Picasaweb: Host photos
Docs: For online collaboration between journalists in
different parts of the world
Forms: To gather information from Citizen Journalists
What YOU can do with these
Google geo products help answer the "where" question in presenting
information/news
Geo products can be used to:

aggregate news through active involvement of readers/citizen journalists

generate interactive news content

provide a way to access localized content quickly

cover news on disasters/conflicts/wars

make travelogues more meaningful and interesting

report on crime distribution, weather patterns, traffic news, commodity prices
Geo products provide easy-to-use interfaces that can be used to create mash-ups,
combining information/news from different sources and presenting it in a more
organized fashion
Aggregate

Analyze
 Organize data through geocoding
 Build stories, investigative
reports - disaster coverage,
crime distribution
Enable and leverage Citizen
Journalism
Present
 Localize content
 Visualization of
information/news - driving
home the importance
 Interactive and engaging
interface
Google Maps Basics
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Virtual Tourism with Street View
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Mash-ups and User-Generated Content
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Maps on Mobile
With Google Maps for mobile, you don't have to ever use a
paper map, while benefiting from a lot of other handy
features
Features
My Location
Buzz
Driving Directions
Latitude
StreetView
Layers
Google Earth
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Google Earth Layers
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Google Confidential and Proprietary
Sky & Ocean in Google Earth
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Google Earth in Your Broadcast
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Quick Note on Press Permissions*
All uses of Google Maps and Google Earth must provide attribution to Google and our
content providers similar to what is shown to the users of our products today.
Unlimited Broadcast Use:
If you use Google Maps / Google Earth imagery in a film or broadcast on TV for an
unlimited number of times over a period of one year or more, you must obtain special
approval from us.
Google use by Media Houses
Print and Online:
Aggregation - Citizen Journalism
Ushahidi
 Ushahidi is a
Open Source
Platform that
was initially
developed to
map reports of
violence in Kenya
through the
collaboration of
Kenyan citizen
journalists
during the 2007
Kenyan Elections
Aggregation - Citizen Journalism
Oil Spill Crisis

Louisiana Bucket
Brigade, an
environmental
NGO,
implemented the
Ushahidi
Platform to
depict incidents
and news related
to the Deep
Horizon oil spill
that are reported
by Citizen
Journalists
Aggregation - Citizen Journalism
CNN iReport

CNN has a User
generated section
called iReport, which
hosts stories
submitted by users

It uses a Form based
interface to enable
citizens to submit
their stories


464,197 stories
submitted so far, of
which 28,687 have
been vetted
Analysis
Disaster Coverage - Deep Horizon
This map from Google not only presents the
impact of oil spill but also enables Citizen
Journalists to contribute news from their localities
Analysis
Disaster Coverage - SanDiego wildfires 2007 interactive map
 Urban Tribune
used a novel
way to update
information
and provide
real-time news
on the spread
and impact of
the 2007
SanDiego
wildfires
 Geo products
are now widely
used for
disaster
management
and providing
critical news to
affected
areas/people
Presentation
NY Times News Layer on Google Earth
User Convenience
National Public Radio - USA
Maps the coverage
of its near-800
member stations, so
that users can locate
and tune in
The future...

Sorting of content geography-wise
o

On-the-spot news snippets by journalists/citizen journalists (through mms/sms)
can be geo-tagged, categorized and presented on a map
Freelance and Citizen journalism
Google Maps API can be used to integrate maps into journalists' own websites/blogs
to organize content better, make them more interactive and thereby increasing traffic
o Using Google Forms to gather news from Citizen journalists
o

Using the Cloud
o
Google apps (email, docs, youtube etc) for online collaboration from anywhere
(Ground Zero - Disaster/War zones; Newsroom) and a host of devices (smart
phones, net/note books, kindle/iPad)