El Salto Promotes Google's 'Preferred Sources' to Boost Independent Media Visibility

• Google has introduced a new feature in Spain called "Preferred Sources" (Fuentes preferidas), allowing users to prioritize specific media outlets in their search results.
• The independent media outlet El Salto is encouraging its audience to designate it as a preferred source to help counter algorithmic bias and improve the visibility of independent journalism.

Understanding Preferred Sources

• The tool enables users to select their preferred news sources to appear more frequently in the "Top Stories" or relevant search sections.
• Selecting a preferred source does not block content from other outlets; it simply gives the chosen outlet a higher priority when relevant to the user's query.
• The feature is now available to all Google users in Spain across mobile and desktop devices.

Importance for Independent Media

• El Salto operates primarily through community funding rather than corporate sponsorship or investment funds.
• The outlet focuses on investigative journalism, climate emergencies, human rights, feminism, and critical economics.
• Direct user action helps bypass algorithms that often prioritize mainstream corporate media over independent voices.
• While not a substitute for financial membership, this setting increases the reach of El Salto's reporting and helps ensure independent perspectives remain visible in a crowded digital landscape.