How publishers are using Facebook Channels | 2025 newsroom priorities survey
Plus we have your news diary for the week ahead and Noel Clarke fails in a bid to amend his libel claim against The Guardian
Good morning and welcome to your daily Press Gazette media briefing on Monday 24 February.
Facebook is not the friendliest place for news publishers but it is the internet for many people.
So when it launches a new platform for professional news, social media teams have to give it a try. We spoke to experts at Reach and News UK to find out how they are building a small but engaged audience on Facebook Channels, the new service which allows publishers to broadcast content via Facebook Messenger.
Today we also have details of a new survey in which more than 100 UK leaders at digital publishing companies share their strategic priorities for the year ahead. Growing readership and developing new revenue streams are top of the list while sustainability and inclusion rank near the bottom. One in three say they plan to introduce a paywall over the next year. See the full survey results here.
In a welcome development in the ongoing war between investigative journalists and the subjects of #metoo-style complaints, actor Noel Clarke has lost a Court of Appeal case against The Guardian. A six-week libel trial is set to go ahead on 3 March with The Guardian planning to call 32 witnesses who will testify to Clarke's inappropriate behaviour.
Your news diary for the week ahead includes the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine today, Keir Starmer's visit to the White House on Thursday and the Oscars on Sunday, 2 March.
On Press Gazette
Facebook Channels providing small but engaged audience for publishers
Facebook Channels allows publishers to create a Messenger feed through which they can post links, polls and other messages to followers of the chat.
Diversity and inclusion a priority for less than half UK news publishers in 2025, survey
Just 4% of publishers said they plan to cut their team size this year.
Noel Clarke loses appeal bid ahead of Guardian libel trial
As well as increasing his claim for special damages to more than £70m, the actor wants to bring a claim over allegations that multiple people conspired against him to cause “irreparable damage” using fabricated allegations of misconduct or sexual assault.
News diary 24 February — 2 March: Starmer and Macron meet Trump, Oscars
A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda this week, from the team at Foresight News.
News in brief
Katy Balls is leaving The Spectator after ten years to join The Times and Sunday Times as Washington editor. (Press Gazette)
The Associated Press has sued three senior White House officials after its reporters were barred from press events because of the decision not to use the term "Gulf of America". The news agency says the exclusions violate the First and Fifth Amendments. (The New York Times)
On Friday the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and more than 30 media organisations asked the White House to restore AP's access, saying: "Conditioning pool access to White House events on the editorial decisions of any news organisation violates First Amendment principles." (RCFP)
The Daily Mail has launched a campaign “to protect Britain's creative industries from the threat of AI”, backed by music, TV, film, media bosses. It said Government plans to create copyright exemptions for AI companies are "like telling burglars they can walk into houses" and "could also threaten Britain's free Press, with content taken from newspaper websites without recompense". (Daily Mail)
The Telegraph is launching its Ukraine: The Latest podcast in Ukrainian and Russian using AI voice cloning and translation which it says will keep "the cadence and tone of the presenters". The plan was teased here by technology director Dylan Jacques.
Headcount at Gannett has reportedly fallen in each of the past six years, with an 11% drop in staff in 2024. (Boston Business Journal)
The Kyiv Independent has raised almost £1.9m in the past three years and increased its team from 18 to 60 people but it continues to ask for support as "only one in 10,000 readers makes a financial contribution". (GoFundMe)
Condé Nast has named Andrea Latten as chief business officer for the UK, leading its commercial teams and driving revenue growth. While in the same role in Germany she "oversaw consistent year-on-year growth including a 26% revenue increase in social video last year". (Condé Nast)
Also on Press Gazette:
2025 journalism job cuts tracked: More than 900 layoffs in UK and US news in January
ChatGPT referrals to top publishers up eight times in six months but still negligible
‘Callous disregard’ of copyright by gen AI companies ruins the magic
5 News editor: There is ‘snobbery’ about us but the figures speak for themselves
How Bauer UK unlocked digital growth through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing
Gallery Media Group has built $50m a year social-first publishing business
Magazine ABCs 2024: Half of print titles see distribution drop 10% or more
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