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, families and communities safe.

Because if the crisis, Facebook has announced an $100 million investment to support the news industry. Twenty-five million of that will be distributed in emergency grant funding for local news through the Facebook Journalism Project. Click here to find out more

The other $75 million in additional marketing spending is going to move money over to news organizations around the world.

Through the COVID-19 Community Network grant program, direct funding is helping journalists cover important stories while they are most needed.
According to its press release Facebook will direct a portion of its funds to publishers who are most in need.

The first round of these grants went to 50 local newsrooms in the US and Canada. One was awarded to a South Carolina newspaper.

This investment is in addition to the support Facebook already pledged to the news industry in response to COVID-19: $1 million in grants for local news, $1 million in grants for fact-checking organizations, and a $1-million donation to the International Fact-Checking Network.