Facebook grants £4.5m to fund UK local newspapers
Facebook will donate £4.5m to local UK newspapers and will fund 80 jobs for the next two years in its latest move to prove its positive relationship with the media.
The US tech giant will subsidise the cost of trainee journalists in newsrooms across Britain to boost "reporting from towns which have lost their local newspaper and beat reporters."
The monies will be channeled through the National Council for the Training of Journalists, a registered charity which will then divide it up in coordination with the local publishers.
“Our experience of working with Facebook has been a very positive one,” said NCTJ's chief executive, Joanne Butcher.
“The view I have is that Facebook is sincere in its hope that this will lead to the creation of more relevant, timely local news. In terms of our charitable objectives we are there to attract, train, and qualify outstanding journalists.”
There are no details of where the jobs will be based although the new positions are expected to start from January.
Five of the largest regional publishers, encompassing media outlets in most major cities, can apply for part of the funds: Reach, Newsquest, Midlands News Association, Archant and JPI Media.