In close study of The New York Times, journalist Dan Froomkim, makes the case that Facebook’s funding of major news providers creates dangerous conflicts of interest

WASHINGTON – On behalf of The Open Markets Institute’s Center for Journalism & Liberty, the journalist Dan Froomkin today published an article that details how Facebook is using nebulous multimillion-dollar deals with major news providers to further its efforts to become the world’s editor-in-chief. The article, “Is Facebook Buying Off The New York Times?” was published by The Washington Monthly.

In the article, Froomkin details how Facebook — under the cover of a new service called “Facebook News” — has been funneling large sums of money to media companies like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Bloomberg, and others since late 2019. Facebook selected these companies according to its own private criteria. The payments have continued even though Facebook now has been charged by attorneys general from 15 U.S. states and territories for illegally conspiring with Google to monopolize control over advertising in ways that directly threaten to asphyxiate America’s free press.

The article was published one day before the Center for Journalism & Liberty, in cooperation with The Washington Monthly, is to hold a virtual conference focused on rebuilding journalism in a way that keeps democracy robust.

Among the revelations in the piece are conversations with former Times CEO Mark Thompson that showcase the severity of Facebook’s efforts to corrupt and silence leading news outlets with dark money payments.

“People who celebrated that Facebook was finally paying for news need to realize that the way they've done it is inequitable, self-serving, and highly problematic for the news organizations that accept the money and agree to keep the details secret,” said Dan Froomkin, author of the article.

“This article demonstrates why it is vital that U.S. lawmakers and law enforcers act immediately to address this grave and growing threat that Facebook and Google today pose to America’s free press – and hence to our democracy. The American people must know that our news media are truly independent, not only from control by the state, but from control and influence by any private monopolist. We must never abide even an appearance of a conflict of interest in our news media,” said Barry Lynn, executive director at Open Markets Institute.

“America’s free press is already in crisis due to the predatory and dangerous business models of Facebook and Google. These corporations have monopolized the advertising revenue that has funded American journalism since the founding of this nation. And they routinely manipulate the flow of news and information between citizens in ways that amplify disinformation and misinformation, and atomize public debate,” continued Lynn.

“It is unclear whether any of these backroom deals have led the Times or any other publication to alter their coverage of Facebook and Google, or their behavior toward their fellow news publishers. We do know is that in accepting these payments, these publications help Facebook to whitewash its starvation and manipulation of the news media as a whole. And we know that these publications have placed their private interests over those of America’s free press as a class. We look forward to working with all of America’s news publishers to get Facebook and Google entirely out of the advertising business and to ensure that America’s markets for news are once again fully open and free,” concluded Lynn.

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Read the full article on The Washington Monthly here.

Register for the journalism conference here.