Friday, August 16, 2019

WSJ: Facebook may pay to license news content


Facebook would pay news outlets up to $3 million annually for the rights to use their material in a news section that Facebook aims to start this year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. 
The social media giant is in talks with publishers such as The Washington Post, New York Times, ABC News, Bloomberg and Dow Jones, WSJ reported.
Publishers could choose between placing content right on Facebook’s tab or using previews that link back to the publisher’s site, the paper reported. 
The story didn’t address what a revenue split would be with Facebook, Nieman Lab points out. Apple recently announced a 50 percent revenue split with publishers for its Apple News+. 
“Licensing and paying for news content is a good idea, and continued access to quality journalism would be an absolute good for Facebook users,” said a statement from News Media Alliance President and CEO David Chavern in response to the report. “However, we still have many questions about the idea, including which publishers would be included, what kinds of terms they would be offered, and what it would mean for local journalism in particular.” Chavern’s statement went on to advocate for  passage of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.

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