Facebook has gathered 14 publishers from Canada as
part of its News Innovation Test. The test is being run to determine a
sustainable news community for promoting authentic news.
The news authors will receive money in exchange of the
valuable news that they share with Facebook, which would not have been publicly
shared via any other source. As a result, the social media company will be able
to test its innovation and improve the quality of it to ensure a better
experience for users.
Some of the publishers that have signed up for this deal with Facebook are BlogTO, Canada's National Observer, The Coast, La Coopérative Nationale de L'information Indépendante, Daily Hive, Le Devoir, Discourse Media, FP Newspapers, Narcity, The Narwhal, SaltWire Network, The Sprawl, The Tyee, and Village Media.
Canada’s Facebook international director and CEO of
policymaking, Kevin Chan, and leader of media partnerships, Marc Dinsdale, have
commented on Facebook’s initiative, saying that the importance of the role of News
Writers and their published news can not be denied, and that Facebook is trying
to ensure the stability of journalism with this move.
In addition to the test, Facebook will be raising
money with organizations like the Facebook-Canadian Press News Foundation and
the BIPOC Media Growth Program to help news publishers develop strong and
competitive strategies in the future.
Facebook says that it will continue to support journalists
in creating high quality content to provide users with the best possible experience
and listen to its users to create a healthy community.
