Regional media outlets receive $2m in funding from Facebook via Walkley Foundation
Facebook and The Walkley Foundation have distributed funding ranging from $10,000-$60,000 USD to 17 regional news organisations to help offset the effects of COVID-19.
The Walkley Foundation is delighted to announce the recipients of the Facebook Journalism Project (FJP) Relief Fund. The funding will support 17 Australian newsrooms in projects that build the publishers’ long-term financial sustainability.The organisations receiving grants are:
Central Coast Newspapers
Echo Publications
Fassifern Guardian
Geelong Independent
Gippsland Times
InQueensland
Latrobe Valley Express
Naracoorte News
Noosa Today and Southern Free Times
North East Media
North Western Courier (The Courier)
Star News Group
Sunraysia Publishing Company
Tennant District Times
The Hilltops Phoenix
The Phoenix Group of Newspapers (The Canowindra Phoenix, The Forbes Phoenix and The Parkes Phoenix)
The Shepparton AdviserThe fund is part of Facebook Journalism Project’s $2 million investment in projects, coaching and training designed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and maintain the long-term viability of newsrooms in the Asia Pacific.
The judges selected the projects on the basis of organisational need, public interest and impact. Many of the winning submissions include long-term opportunities for increasing the reach and distribution of regional journalism and new ways to open up advertising and subscriber revenue.
Andrew Hunter, News Partnerships Lead, Facebook Australia and New Zealand, said: “Local news is an essential service that is more important than ever as journalists strive to chronicle their communities’ responses to COVID-19. The coronavirus has had a devastating effect on many of the rural and local commercial enterprises that pay for news by advertising. These funds will go directly to alleviate those losses and contribute to the sustainability of some of the newsrooms across Australia that need it most.”
Source: The Walkley Foundation media release
