Facebook to give US$159,500 in grants to seven Canadian publishers to expand business

Photo: The Canadian Press

An iPhone displays the Facebook app in New Orleans, Aug. 11, 2019. Facebook Inc. says it will give seven grants totaling US $159,500 to seven Canadian news publishers to help them expand their operations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jenny Kane

Facebook Inc. says it will give US$159,500 in grants to seven Canadian news publishers to help them expand their operations.

The U.S. tech giant says the grants will range from US$17,000 to US$25,000 and be given to Glacier Media, Overstory Media Group, Sprawl, the Discourse, the Narwhal, the Tyee and Village Media.

Facebook says the money is meant to help news organizations expand their businesses, build on newsletter strategies, keep their paying supporters and launch new products and other initiatives.

The grants are part of the Facebook Journalism Project Accelerator, a training program launched in 2018, after news publishers experiencing sinking advertising revenues pushed for the tech giant to share more of its profits.

Facebook says Village Media will use its grant to invest in social media advertising while the Discourse, Sprawl and the Narwhal will expand into new markets.

Glacier Media will use its funding to develop and market Endorsed, a marketing offering based on product and service recommendations for Canadians.