Facebook announced on Thursday that it will expand its Today In news initiative to more than 6,000 cities and towns across the U.S. in an effort to combat “news deserts,” reports FoxBusiness.
Users who live in participating Today In municipalities get to opt into the service, which delivers local news, non-profit organizations and public service announcements directly to mobile newsfeeds. Once activated, critical alerts like road closures, crime reports and election results can be sent in real time—though that also depends on individual notification settings.
This is helpful for citizens who live in areas that lack local news coverage, but it also puts responsibility on the user. According to Facebook, a little over 1.6 million people “have opted in to receive regular local updates from Today In.” That number is a far cry from the estimated 169.5 million users in 2018, as predicted by digital market research company eMarketer.
Despite the limited engagement, Facebook affirmed that Today In features content from over 1,200 local news publishers every week.
A media study by the non-profit Poynter Institute in late 2018 found that more 1,300 U.S. communities have lost local news coverage. This is a dangerous precedent according to David Chavern, President and CEO of News Media Alliance.
“Local news is important. It’s one of the only controls for political activity. If you don’t have local journalism looking over the shoulder of local politicians, that’s just a recipe for corruption and criminality,” Chavern told FOX Business.
When it comes down to why local organizations are struggling to stay in business, Chavern said it’s because they no longer control the distribution of content. Instead, popular social media sites and search engines are information gatekeepers that also eat up ad revenue.
A Pew Research Center study found that the total estimated advertising revenue for the newspaper industry in 2018 was $14.3 billion, which is about 13 percent down from the year prior.
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