In the wake of the spread of the coronavirus, many news media have suffered from reduced revenue, as the number of advertisements has dropped significantly lately.
Now Facebook announces that it intends to invest 100 million dollars, equivalent to 990 million kroner, in the initiative known as the Facebook Journalism Project.
In an initial stage, money is distributed to around fifty local news media in the US and Canada, but the idea is that it should be a global investment aimed at giving media the opportunity to continue offering real journalism. This is in contrast to the steady stream of propaganda and disinformation that spreads in the wake of the crisis.
Advertisements promoting fake cures for the coronavirus have already been banned on Facebook, and the World Health Organization has also been given the opportunity to advertise free of charge.