(Photo : Pexels/Pixabay) Facebook news outlet
Social media giant Facebook announced on Apr. 29 that it will give $5 million to pay local journalists in multiyear deals as part of its new publishing platform to help independent writers attract an audience and make money through the social media network.
Facebook to Hire Journalists
The move is part of Facebook s answer to the trend of email newsletters, led by platforms like Substack, as it focuses on reporters who are usually the lone voice covering a given community, according to The Verge.
The publishing platform, which Facebook announced last month, will be integrated with Facebook Pages and will include a free self-publishing tool for journalists to send out newsletters or create their own websites.
April 29th, 2021
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Substack is luring high-profile journalists and bloggers with significant upfront payments to cover their first year on the newsletter platform, but Facebook is taking a different approach
to recruiting writers as it moves into the newsletter market. The company has set up a $5 million fund to pay local journalists multi-year licensing fees to help them build an audience and make a living from its self-publishing platform. The company told
Reuters it’s focusing on local journalists who are often the lone voice covering a given community.”
Facebook announced the platform, which allows journalists to create individual websites as well as newsletters, last month. It ties into Facebook Pages, giving writers a way to tap into their existing audience on the social network with a free self-publishing tool. They’ll be able to set their own prices for subscriptions, and there may be other ways for them to earn income.
TechnologyFacebook to pay $5 mln to local journalists in newsletter push
Sheila Dang
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The Facebook logo is reflected on a woman s glasses in this photo illustration taken June 3, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/Illustration
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Facebook Inc (FB.O) on Thursday said it will give $5 million to pay local journalists in multiyear deals as part of its new publishing platform to help independent writers attract an audience and make money through the social media network.
The move is part of Facebook s answer to the trend of email newsletters, led by platforms like Substack, as it focuses on reporters who are often the lone voice covering a given community, the company has said.
Facebook unveiled its own publishing platform for independent writers last month that would allow them to create individual websites and newsletters, complete with monetization tools such as subscriptions. Today, Facebook has announced that it is setting aside a sum of $5 million to woo local reporters so that they can join the company’s new initiative which aims to give independent writers a platform where they can earn more money.
Facebook is currently accepting applications only from US-based local reporters
First reported by
Reuters, Facebook has already started accepting applications and will prioritize writers who want to write about issues catering to ‘Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian or other audiences of color.’ The social media giant is joining hands with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) to assess the applications and also reach a network of reporters who might be interested in what Faceboo