Facebook introduces new program to help French media

The American company will provide training and tools to the French media so that they can thank the social network.

Two years after the launch of a digital subscription “acceleration” dedicated to the French regional daily (PQR), Facebook on Friday unveiled a plan to help a dozen French media outlets “grow their digital audience”, “promote their brand” and “create subscriptions”. )

The release, 20 minutes, will also feature L’Obs, L’Express, Prisma Media, Slate, RTL, Combat or Jeune Afrique, training from September to November, provided by “media experts”, Facebook said in a statement.

He adds that social networking “provides them with tools and resources”, not to mention the scale of the process. Certainly, Facebook explains the challenge, linked to the loyalty of their audience with a common theme, “groups consisting of two to four members of the participating media editorial, marketing and sales groups.”

For example, “With the aim of increasing the number of users identified by the publisher, the number of newsletter subscribers, the number of registered users or the number of mobile users will increase.”

“Used in other parts of Europe, this project, launched by the Facebook Journalism Project, helped publishers” retain “subscribers,” increase non-subscriber usage and visits “or” improve users’ knowledge. “

In 2019, Facebook launched a 2 million euro plan for PQR in France and Belgium. The plan specifically includes a mechanism for awarding scholarships, which is not the same as the one released on Friday.

According to the social network, projects carried out by PQR’s 11 publishers generated over a year “more than 25,000 new subscribers, more than 300,000 new subscriber newsletters and a total value of .5 8.5 million”.

Facebook and Google have developed plans for magazines in many countries, which are often accused of capturing a large portion of online advertising revenue, and some want to force them to pay for the media content that runs on their websites.

In France, the issue of neighborhood rights led to “constructive discussions in the summer with the Public Information Press (Apig) alliance,” it was reported on Facebook. “We continue to work on a solution to support publishers that benefit different stakeholders,” the same source added to AFP.