The press is experiencing a paradoxical situation. If web audiences and digital subscription takeovers are at an all-time high during this pandemic period, advertising revenues are clearly falling. This has forced many publications to place part of their workforce into partial unemployment, to reduce wages, or even to lay off workers. To support the media in this complex phase, Facebook has just announced a $ 100 million action plan that will apply to media around the world.
“We are in dire need of the news media right now. Digital subscriptions do not compensate for the rapid fall in advertising revenue. We are trying to help fill this hole, ” Campbell Brown, Facebook media manager, told The Wall Street Journal. According to the latter, Mark Zuckerberg "believes that it is vital that the public has access to reliable and verified information on the pandemic, and that he has a responsibility in this regard."
The Facebook boss spoke to Axios about this. "Many journalists work hard under difficult conditions, at a time when it is more than necessary to access reliable information ," he said.
Of this $ 100 million, $ 25 million will go to reinforce an emergency fund for local media. The latter had been launched by Facebook on March 17, but was endowed with only a million dollars. This sum was distributed among 50 North American publications, and enabled them to raise their paywall, to launch newsletters on the coronavirus, or to cover the costs related to teleworking.
Purchase of advertising space
This fund is now extended to countries affected by the pandemic. Various criteria are studied to be eligible for this aid: cover a geographic sector or communities affected by the coronavirus; be a small independent publisher; need to invest in tools and software to telecommute and report safely; be an organization seeking to combat disinformation about the epidemic at the local level. Freelance journalists are also eligible.
The remaining $ 75 million will come from the purchase of advertising space in media around the world. Questioned by Le Figaro, Facebook France indicates that it does not know to date if French media will be affected. "We are in a privileged position that allows us to help," said Campbell Brown.
Facebook is indeed, alongside Google, a juggernaut that captures the bulk of advertising investments on the Internet, leaving crumbs to online media. This situation fuels a tenacious resentment of press publishers towards the social network. In Europe, the latter have obtained the creation of a neighboring right to copyright, which aims to oblige platforms to pay online media a license to use their articles. But the implementation of the text in France is complex, Facebook like Google preferring to negotiate press group by press group.