New notification: Facebook liked your news

UNDER pressure and trying to bring the media onside, tech giant Facebook has just announced a huge programme to strengthen local journalism in the UK. It looks good, but does it have much value?

The £4.5 million scheme will fund the training of 80 community reporters for two years.

They’ll be ‘getting right to the heart of those communities, [and] building relationships’ in areas without viable local news.

This is certainly a good aim, and whereas local papers’ survival strategy in recent years seems to have been to cut costs, being able to pay trained journalists will give them some long-term hope. But can they be paid?

Because one of the critical flaws in Facebook’s slightly idealistic vision is that there is no safety net for these journalists, or their paper, after the two years end.

If the local paper is not turning a profit by then, the newly up-skilled journalists may be laid off, and any gains in local reporting would be reversed.

But that isn’t the only concern.

There are real questions about both

Facebook’s motives, and its suitability to deliver.

Since 2007, over 200 local newspapers have closed in the UK; advertising revenues have fallen across the board.

Where did the advertising go? Facebook. Where do people now find their news? Facebook.

Prospects for local news worsened when early this year the firm adjusted our newsfeeds: we now see less local online news and more photos of our aunt’s holiday.

And until Facebook began to take negative media attention after data misuses it didn’t seem to care. So why trust them now?

There are key gaps in the plan too.

It doesn’t cover hyperlocal news, which is more community-focused and personal.

This seems a concerning flaw.

The editor of this paper (a hyperlocal) said it’s a ‘disappointing’ decision. If local news leaves the scene then he believes there will be a ‘a vacuum of information’.

Facebook will be doing some good by encouraging vital local news for at least a short period.

But as I write, a key local paper owner, Johnston Press, entered administration and a new compant took over. Just as it exits the market, the reason for its demise enters.

Can we trust the birthplace of fake news?