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Facebook Journalism Project shared an update on the progress made by participants in its Accelerator program and shared details on what to expect in 2021.
The roughly 175 newsrooms that were invited to participate in 13 programs worldwide gained over 200,000 new paying subscribers and more than 2.5 million new registered audience members, reporting $60 million in customer lifetime value since the program began three years ago.
Year four of the Accelerator program will bring with it new programs in March and April focused on subscriptions and membership in Canada and the U.S., and on reader revenue in Europe, with the latter including publishers from the five Nordic nations, as well as the BeNeLux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Facebook Journalism Project will also start a $500,000 grant fund for alumni of the program, aimed at continued support for digital transformation initiatives.
The organization said it will continue support for news organizations that have historically been denied, adding that at least one-half of the publishers in its 2021 programs in North America will be owned or led by people of color, after 20 such companies took part in last fall’s Sustainability Accelerator.
It will also continue working with the Maynard Institute on training to help build more equitable and anti-racist workplaces.
Maynard Institute co-executive director Evelyn Hsu said in a Facebook Journalism Project blog post, “People won’t support what they don’t trust. Diversity is trust, equity builds trust and trust will help lead to sustainability. The news media must aspire to this notion of belonging and recognize the need for equity in hiring, retention, decision-making, coverage and business practices.”
Fellow co-executive director Martin G. Reynolds added, “It’s not hyperbole to say that 2020 revealed that the soul of journalism is at stake. There is a deep lack of trust in the news media, in large part because it hasn’t been equitable, inclusive or accurate, particularly for communities of color.”
And Tim Griggs, executive director of the Accelerator program and founder and CEO of Blue Engine Collaborative, a consortium of mission-driven consultants and advisors focused on driving digital audience growth and revenue, concluded, “News organizations around the world continue to face declining revenue and readership. The Accelerator, we hope, gives teams a better shot at making it, and we’ve seen that play out time and time again. I’m incredibly grateful that the Facebook Journalism Project continues to invest in the sustainability of local news around the globe. It’s truly making an important difference.”
