Meta Ends Facebook News Support in US and Australia
Meta has announced it will cease the support feature of Facebook News in the US and Australia come April 2024. It will also quit contracting new news-related commercial agreements and will stop offering new Facebook products explicitly for publishers.
Publishers to Lose Out on Facebook News
The News tab appeared on Facebook in 2019 when leading publishers struck content contracts with the social media platform. Wall Street Journal secured a deal worth $10 million, the New York Times agreed on a $20 million contract, and CNN had a $3 million agreement. However, the News tab will disappear in April for good. The Facebook News, located in the “News” tab, is no longer available in the UK, France, Germany, and as of April, the feature will be unavailable in the US and Australia as well,” according to Facebook’s help page.
Once a Means of Strengthening Journalism and Democracy
When Facebook unveiled its News segment in 2019, management was hopeful that the initiative would buttress good journalism and strengthen democracy. It has also referred to a survey suggesting that it was falling short of covering a variety of topics that users would like to see on their feed, especially in fields like entertainment, health, business, and sports. Now, Meta claims news constitutes less than 3% of what global users see on their Facebook feed and composes a minor part of Facebook experience for the majority.
A Shift in Focus
The company will stop paying publishers as it refocuses on what users express they want to see more on the platform, which includes short videos. Meta encourages publishers to post links on the Reels section or to purchase advertising.
