Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, has announced a new platform called Newspack that is targeted at small and medium-sized news organizations, in partnership with Google, through the Google News Initiative, that provides the technology and support that lets these organizations build a thriving business.
It will afford the organizations fast, secure, and low-cost publishing system tailor-made to the needs of small newsrooms, with Google backing the project and has committed $1.2 million, and other contributors including: The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Civil Media collectively supporting by $1 million.
The aim is to address the challenge of local news organizations in finding sustainable models, and the need for inexpensive platform that provides the support that lets them build their businesses and focus on what they do best — providing critical news reporting for the communities.
Newspack will provide a platform where the organizations can continue to focus on providing critical news reporting, through the world-class technology and support across editorial and business operations.
Additionally, Automattic will be working with Spirited Media and News Revenue Hub to better analyze the features that contribute to publisher success and to measure the impact of these capabilities.
If you run a News organization and interested in being part of the pilot program, you can go to newspack.blog to learn more about the project and to sign up for email updates.
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