Meta Donates $8m To NCTJ Community News Project

The Community News Project will create up to 100 community reporter roles, as the project will receive new funding.

Meta (formerly Facebook) will make an $8 million donation (around £5.9 million) to the NCTJ to continue the scheme for a further two years. The scheme aims to support trusted, local journalism and to improve the diversity in UK newsrooms.

This will allow more publishers to join the scheme, as well as to take on additional journalists to cover underserved communities.

The project was launched in 2019 as a partnership between the NCTJ, Meta and nine regional news publishers: Archant; Barnsley Chronicle; Baylis Media; JPIMedia; KM Group; Midland News Association; Newbury Weekly News; Newsquest; and Reach plc.

Joanne Butcher, chief executive of the NCTJ, said: “The Community News Project is widely regarded as one of Meta’s most innovative and transformative projects for the regional publishing media.

“The results speak for themselves: an increase in the number and diversity of trainees joining newsrooms, who are increasing coverage of their communities while becoming professionally-qualified journalists. In fact, at least 68 per cent of the reporters hired in the initial programme met one or more of the diversity criteria being measured.

“News of Meta’s longer-term commitment and even greater investment in the project comes as a real boost after such a challenging time. The 73 newsrooms from nine publishing groups deserve great credit too for making the project a big success so that it can benefit even more publishers in the future.”

Journalists participating in the scheme have produced hundreds of front pages, with 80 per cent securing front page bylines or homepage leads.

Sarah Brown, head of news partnerships, Northern Europe at Meta, said: “Following the successful launch of Facebook News in January this year, the Community News Project builds on our multi-year investments in the news ecosystem in the UK. The CNP is a great example of delivering a powerful journalism training programme in partnership with local newsrooms across the UK. 

“At Meta we like to build community, and these roles are fully focused on giving voice and telling stories that matter from underrepresented groups across the UK. Likewise, the NCTJ has been a wonderful partner in delivering an excellent programme of training, helping create the editors and publishers of tomorrow.”

Publishers who would like to join the scheme are asked to get in touch by Thursday 6 January 2022. Find more information here.