Locals Application Announcement – April 2021

Creating More Opportunities for Independent, Local Writers to Thrive

Today the Facebook Journalism Project is announcing a program for writers in the US to get support for creating public interest journalism about local communities, using Facebook’s forthcoming platform for independent writers.

We’re committing $5 million at launch to support local participants in this wider initiative to empower independent writers and create more opportunities for local journalism to thrive.

In an effort to recruit stellar candidates, we are partnering with a number of U.S.-based journalism nonprofits to get out news of this opportunity to their networks, including the International Center for Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. In addition to promoting the opportunity, ICFJ and NAHJ will help evaluate applications, alongside Facebook.

Applications close on May 13, 2021 at 11:59 pm ET. Subject to Terms and Conditions.

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Selected applicants receiving further consideration for an opportunity to enter into a deal with Facebook which includes the following commitments:

• A multi-year licensing fee to give you time to build a true relationship with your audience.
• Monetization tools starting with subscriptions.
• Access to experts, information and services designed to make it easier to start and build an independent business.

As part of any such deal successful applicants will commit to:

• Regularly publish written, public-interest journalism focused on a local community using Facebook’s tools.
• Engage with their audience through Facebook tools such as Groups, live discussions, and other features that help them connect more deeply with their community.
• From time to time, give the Facebook team feedback on their experience so we can improve our products and services.

We will update applicants on next steps by June 2021.

You are eligible for this program if you meet the following criteria:

• You are an individual writer.
• You live in the United States.
• You are applying to cover public interest local news in a defined local community.

We are prioritizing applicants who meet the following criteria:

• You will extensively cover Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian or other audiences of color.
• The location you intend to cover or the community you will cover within your chosen location are not served by an existing media company (generally known as news deserts).
• You are an independent writer who is not currently employed at a news publication.

In addition to this, we are also looking to increase access to writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian or another community of color, or who extensively cover these audiences because we are focused on diversity and want to ensure that communities of color are served by quality local journalism. We also know that some areas lack any public interest news coverage and writers aiming to cover such communities deserve all the support we can offer.

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Thank you very much for your consideration. Please submit any questions to facebookjournalismproject@fb.com.

FAQs

When will this commitment begin? 

We will update applicants on next steps in June.

What if I’m a small local news organization — can I apply? 

Not at this time.

If I am a full-time writer at a news publication, can I apply?

Yes; however, we will prioritize applicants who are independent writers. If you have questions regarding your specific circumstances please email us at facebookjournalismproject@fb.com to discuss your situation.

If I am a freelancer at a news publication, can I apply? 

Yes.

I’m outside of the US, can I apply?

Not at this time.

How will these writers engage with Facebook? Will they have access to the news partnerships team? 

Each of those journalists selected to participate in this initiative will collaborate with a partner manager on our news partnerships team.

How many writers will be selected? 

We’re committed to local writers making up a meaningful percentage of the initial writers using the platform.

What is the criteria you are using to evaluate applications? 

We’re looking for both established voices and up-and-coming writers.

Eligible applicants must be individual writers, based in the United States, and cover public interest local news in a defined local community. We are also prioritizing applicants who meet the following criteria:

• You will extensively cover Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian or other audiences of color.
• The location you intend to cover or the community you will cover within your chosen location are not served by an existing media company (generally known as news deserts).
• You are an independent writer who is not currently employed at a news publication.

How do you define “local?” Are you giving precedence to urban areas? rural?

We define “local” as constituting a defined geographic area. The size of that geographic area will differ greatly — in rural communities, it may extend over many zip codes where in an urban context it may be a large neighborhood. We are giving applicants a wide latitude for what constitutes local journalism because that definition can vary so greatly.

We are giving precedence to areas and communities that are not currently served by an existing journalism entity. Whether rural, suburban or urban, we know there are locations that do not have sufficient local journalism. We also know that certain groups, particularly communities of color, may not have their information needs met by existing journalism organizations in some places and will prioritize writers who will cover underserved communities.