Ever anxious to be seen as doing more good than harm to the news industry, Google has brought a number of initiatives together into its News Lab, announced this week.

Director Steve Grove says it will empower innovation at the intersection of technology and media: "Our mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media," he says.

Although described as a global effort, News Lab teams are initially in the US, UK, France, and Germany - the pointy end of the search giant's battle with government - with a training and research arm to its Google's Digital News Initiative in Europe.

"Given Google's mission to ensure quality information is accessible and useful everywhere, we want to help ensure that innovation in news leads to a more informed, more democratic world," says Grove.

The company says it will make tools "from Maps to YouTube to Fusion Tables to Earth to Search" available to journalists around the world - and ensure newsrooms know how to use them - place "helpful Google data sets" in the hands of journalists, and fund programmes "designed to build on some of the biggest opportunities that exist in the media industry today".

Journalists will be able to access written and video tutorials and case studies created specifically for newsrooms at g.co/newslab tutorials that highlight best practices from top newsrooms around the world.

"As Google develops new products that help journalists, we'll update these resources regularly," Grove says.

The moves follow last week's update of its Google Trends platform, which incorporates feedback from newsrooms and data journalists. "We're also helping newsrooms around the world tell stories using data, with a daily feed of curated Google Trends based on the headlines of the day, and through partnerships with newsrooms on specific data experiments," he says.

A series of programmes imagining the future of news and information includes a partnerships with San Francisco media accelerator Matter and the Hacks/Hackers global community of developers and journalists, which will get financial support and mentorship from Google. TechRaking summits are also being held with the Center for Investigative Reporting.

The Google programmes will also focus on citizen reporting with three projects - First Draft, the Witness Media Lab, and YouTube Newswire - which use YouTube and other open platforms more accessible for first-hand content.

Grove says Google has created many technologies and platforms that have engaged the media industry: "As both the media landscape and technology continue to evolve, we believe we can create a more informed world if technologists and journalists work together," he says.