Facebook wants to support the journalism in the US and internationally with a cash injection of 300 million dollars (263 million euros). The money should flow into news programs, partnerships and content over the next three years – „with a strong focus on local news,“ said Facebook manager Campbell Brown today.
The move follows allegations from the media industry, and major Internet companies such as Google and Facebook have massively increased publishers and their business models. „We do not want to make the publishers dependent on us, but we want to support them,“ quoted the US broadcaster CNN Brown from a conference call.
A similar program had already been launched by Google for the media and for journalists. In March 2018, the Internet company launched the „Google News Initiative“ (GNI) as a global umbrella. It is essentially based on the work of the „Digital News Initiative“, with which the company promoted, for example, development projects in publishing houses at the European level. Google also announced an investment of $ 300 million to backfill the project over a three-year period.
