Facebook is putting $15 million into Australian public-interest journalism alongside its launch of Facebook News across the country.
The social media giant will split the fund into the Newsroom Sustainability Fund and the Public Interest Journalism Fund to help support regional and digital newsrooms find economic sustainability.
The Newsroom Sustainability Fund will allocate $2.5 million each year over three years, in grants of up to $250,000 to selected regional newsrooms and digital-first publications. The funding will target innovation and revenue-generating projects, such as subscription paywalls and membership program development.
The Public Interest Journalism Fund will also allocate $2.5 million each year over three years, in grants of up to $120,000 to small, regional publishers and independent journalists to fund news projects of “public interest value” and to encourage media diversity.
Facebook Australia head of news partnerships Andrew Hunter says the platform is particularly interested in funding to support underserved communities, such as Indigenous Australians, LGBTQI+ community, youth and women’s issues, rural affairs and local civic journalism.
“This investment will help publishers and independent journalists producing news of public interest value across Australia,” Hunter says.
“It will also support smaller, regional, rural and digital newsrooms as they develop new products and strategies to expand reach and revenue.
“The new funds build on Facebook’s commitment to the Australian news community. For the past three years, Facebook has partnered with the news industry to support sustainable business solutions. This includes its AU$1.5 million investment in the 2019-20 reader revenue accelerator supporting 11 ANZ news publishers; the AU$1 million COVID-19 relief fund that went to 17 rural, regional and community newsrooms across Australia and the newly awarded Accelerator Alumni Grants.”
Expressions of Interest is open for both funds, and newsrooms, journalists, and publishers to register their interest and be notified when applications are open.
In addition to the funding, Facebook is rolling out its Facebook News tab to a small number of Australians with plans to expand the product to more users in the coming months.
“This phased launch will ensure the product works in a way that provides benefit to Australian audiences and publishers,” Hunter says.
“In 2020, Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AU$407 million. And from January to November 2020, Australian publishers generated AU$5.4 million from our revenue share programs, such as In-Stream Video advertising.”
Facebook News pays select news publishers for their content. The product had been paused in Australia after the government released its draft news media bargaining code.
Earlier this year, Facebook also pulled news content for Australian users which was restored after updates to the final bargaining code were made.
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