Google just entered the race to build the future of media with a big new project called 'News Labs'

Facebook, Apple, Snapchat, and Twitter are all knee-deep in competition to shape the future of digital news, from article creation to consumption.

Now Google is entering the race with "News Lab," an effort led by Steve Grove to collaborate with entrepreneurs and journalists and "build the future of news." Grove says his global team will arm journalists with tools - such as Earth, YouTube, and Maps - and data for news stories.

Google Trends, Grove hopes, will become a meaningful tool for writers who can scan curated headlines and topics daily; Google will also work with publishers one on one to provide customized data for their newsrooms.

In addition, Google is partnering with media startup accelerator programs and it wants citizen journalism to really take off through its projects First Draft, WITNESS Media Lab, and YouTube Newswire.

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