Facebook has introduced new brand and company logo FACEBOOK, in an effort to distinguish between the company and the social app. Announced in a blog post Monday morning, the company said that from its 15-year evolution from a single app to a suite of products, it now wants “to be clearer about the products that come from Facebook.” In addition to the Facebook app, Facebook’s main services encompass Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, Workplace, Portal and Calibra. In the coming weeks, the new brand will show up within those products and marketing materials, including a new company website. The timing of the rebrand effort comes as Facebook faces continued scrutiny over its policies on political ads and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s call to break up the digital giant.
The Canadian Press, Village Media, Torstar, and Earbank have received first-round Google News Initiative funding. The Canadian Press aims to build out a Digital Data Desk to take advantage of two emerging trends in journalism: access to data and the use of AI to create content from that data. Earbank is developing a platform that makes it easier for broadcasters and journalists to archive their news audio clips and soundbites, make the content searchable on the internet, and earn money by selling licenses for those clips to audio buyers such as documentary producers, podcasters, and educational publishers. Village Media seeks to trigger a network effect within its community news platform by enabling and encouraging readers and advertisers to connect on a one-to-one and a one-to-many basis with other members of their geographical community of interest. Torstar’s Project Local Pulse is a digital-only product that combines local news with a community hub. With print news products in decline, Torstar is looking to develop a sustainable new platform to maximize reader engagement by combining Torstar’s news brands with deep community content.
TVO.org is translating Indigenous stories into Indigenous languages, as part of its commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission call to action. Until now, TVO.org has published stories from its Indigenous Hub reporters in English only. Going forward, the network intends to publish as many of those stories as possible both in English and an Indigenous language relevant to the community being covered. TVO’s first translated story from Indigenous Hub writer Shelby Lisk is on the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It can be read in Mohawk here and in English here.
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