Social media giant Facebook on Monday unveiled an additional $100 million pledge to invest in support of the news industry amid the coronavirus crisis.
The capital injection includes $25 million in emergency grant funding for local news through the Facebook Journalism Project, and $75 million in marketing spend "to move money over to news organizations around the world." Said Facebook: "The news industry is working under extraordinary conditions to keep people informed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a time when journalism is needed more than ever, ad revenues are declining due to the economic impact of the virus. Local journalists are being hit especially hard, even as people turn to them for critical information to keep their friends,.