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Facebook Journalism Project (FJP)

Website:

www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp
Location:

Menlo Park, AR
Type:

Media Advocacy Project
Formation:

2017

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The Facebook Journalism Project (FJP), also known as the Meta Journalism Project, is a project of the social media and tech company Meta designed primarily to support local news and provide third-party fact checking on Meta-owned platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. Fact-checking within the project is provided media organizations known for having left-of-center bias, including USA Today and the Associated Press. 1

Founding and History

The Facebook Journalism Project was launched on January 11, 2017, to collaborate with news media organizations, especially in the Facebook product development process. 2

In February 2018, FJP launched the Local News Subscription Accelerators, a $3 million, 3-month pilot program to help local newsrooms increase their subscription base. 3

In January 2019, FJP expanded its accelerator program as part of a $300 million investment in its local news programming. This $300 million investment including sponsoring multiple outside organizations to promote the reading of local news, including the Pulitzer Center, a left-of-center group that provides support for journalism and makes stories available for media outlets; Report for America, a joint project of Google News Lab and the GroundTruth Project to place journalists in local newsrooms; Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund; Local Media Association (LMA) and Local Media Consortium (LMC); American Journalism Project; and Community News Project. 4

In October 2019, FJP launched Facebook News, a dedicated forum for news on the social media platform. 5

In January 2020, FJP expanded the Accelerator program internationally. 6

In March 2020, FJP gave $25 million in emergency grant funding for local news during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was in addition to the $75 million in Facebook marketing spending on news publishers. 7

In April 2020, FJP gave a total of $2 million to 400 North American local newsrooms as part of a Community Network grant program to support local coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. 8

In February 2021, FJP announced it would reduce political content in the feeds of users. 9

In April 2022, FJP partnered with WhatsApp, another Meta subsidiary, and the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to combat what it contends is news misinformation through a grant program offering up to $800,000 in grants to as many as 20 recipients. 10

Activities

The Facebook Journalism Project was designed to accomplish three goals. First, the project allowed external individuals and news organizations to engage in the product development process. This collaboration was intended to aid the development of news storytelling formats on the Facebook platform, support local news, promote independent media, sponsor hackathons with developers from news organizations, and provide a forum for regular communication between Facebook and the U.S. and international news industry. 11

Second, FJP was designed to offer training and tools for journalists on how to use Facebook products, discover information on the platform, distribute their work, and engage and build audiences. 12

Third, FJP was designed to promote news literacy among the general population—including through a partnership with the News Literacy Project, which promotes left-of-center news interpretation through educational programming, as well as to crack down on what the company views as news hoaxes. 13

FJP has a variety of programs to support these goals, most notably its accelerator program to train and support local news publishers around the world  14 and its third-party fact-checking program partnering with independent fact-checkers to review and rate information on Meta subsidiaries Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. 15

Under the third-party fact-checking program, fact checkers certified by the International Fact-Checking Network rate the accuracy of stories on Meta’s platforms in countries around the world. When fact checkers rate a piece of content as false, the distribution of that content is restricted.  16 In the United States, Facebook partners with fact checkers organizations alleged to have a left-of-center bias, including Factcheck.org, Politifact, the Associated Press, and USA Today. 17

References

  1. “Where We Have Fact Checking.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/programs/third-party-fact-checking/partner-map
  2. “Introducing the Facebook Journalism Project.” Facebook. January 11, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/introducing-facebook-journalism-project.
  3. “Facebook Helps Local News Publishers Build Digital Subscriptions.” Facebook. February 27, 2018. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/facebook-local-news-digital-subscriptions
  4. “Campbell Brown: Facebook is Doing More to Support Local News.” Facebook. January 15, 2019. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/facebook-supports-local-news.
  5. “Timeline.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/timeline.
  6. “Timeline.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/timeline.
  7. “Timeline.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/timeline.
  8. “400 Local Newsrooms Receive Grants to Support Coronavirus Work.” April 7, 2020. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/community-network-coronavirus-grants-news-reporting-recipients-round-1.
  9. “Timeline.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/timeline.
  10. “Timeline.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/timeline.
  11. “Introducing the Facebook Journalism Project.” Facebook. January 11, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/introducing-facebook-journalism-project.
  12. “Introducing the Facebook Journalism Project.” Facebook. January 11, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/introducing-facebook-journalism-project.
  13. “Introducing the Facebook Journalism Project.” Facebook. January 11, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/introducing-facebook-journalism-project.
  14. “The Meta Journalism Project Accelerator Program.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/programs/global-accelerator
  15. “Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/programs/third-party-fact-checking.
  16. “Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/programs/third-party-fact-checking.
  17. “Where We Have Fact Checking.” Facebook. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp/programs/third-party-fact-checking/partner-map
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Facebook Journalism Project (FJP)


Menlo Park, AR