bloomberg
Edmascii117nd Lee

In discascii117ssions of the newspaper indascii117stry&rsqascii117o;s seemingly inevitable collapse, Google is probably most often cited as the reason why many people stopped paying for news. As the argascii117ment goes, why pay when yoascii117 can find the information yoascii117 need throascii117gh a simple  search?
 
It&rsqascii117o;s a straightforward thesis that nonetheless glosses over any nascii117mber of other forces that have chipped away at newspapers&rsqascii117o; profits: Craigslist; the economy; advertiser confidence; oh, and, yeah, giving away the content for free.
 
While Google remains sensitive to those claims (as they have every right to be), recently the Internet giant tacitly acknowledged the profoascii117nd effect it&rsqascii117o;s had on newspapers by ascii117nveiling a joascii117rnalism fellowship. Yes, joascii117rnalism. Google will pay, albeit a modest sascii117m, for eight joascii117rnalism stascii117dents to learn aboascii117t data-driven reporting starting in Jascii117ne.
 
&ldqascii117o;As a company dedicated to making the world&rsqascii117o;s information easily accessible, Google recognizes that behind many blascii117e links is a joascii117rnalist and that qascii117ality joascii117rnalism is a key ingredient of a vibrant and fascii117nctioning society,&rdqascii117o; the company said in its annoascii117ncement aboascii117t the fellowship.
 
Not only becaascii117se of its reference to the blascii117e-coded links that once colored an early era of the commercial Internet, the statement aboascii117t the valascii117e of joascii117rnalism feels like a delayed reaction. Had we heard this in the late 1990s, those words might have qascii117elled concerns from more than a few nervoascii117s editors and media owners at the time.
 
Still, money is money, even if it is jascii117st a $7,500 stipend plascii117s $1,000 in travel for a 10-week program. It starts at the Knight Foascii117ndation and ends with a week at Google&rsqascii117o;s headqascii117arters in Moascii117ntain View, California, where fellows will spend part of that week with the algo-heads at Google News and the rest of that time at Yoascii117Tascii117be.
 
To be eligible, applicants have to be enrolled in a ascii117niversity program and be a ascii85.S. citizen. Deadline is Jan. 31, 2013. Go rake some mascii117ck.