Mar 24, 2020 - Health

Twitter donating $1 million to journalism nonprofits amid coronavirus

Sara Fischer

COVID-19 Twitter — Photo: NurPhoto/Contributor

Twitter said Tuesday that it's donating $1 million to the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Women's Media Foundation ($500,000 each) to support newsrooms while covering the novel coronavirus.

Why it matters: Many newsrooms are struggling with how to balance covering the virus while ensuring the safety of their employees. Others are struggling to cover COVID-19 without the steady stream of ad revenue coming in during the pandemic.

Details: According to a blog post by Twitter's Legal, Policy and Trust & Safety Lead Vijaya Gadde, the funds will be used to ensure that news organizations "can continue their work in the face of new economic strains and to directly support journalists."

Gadde says Twitter is doing this because journalism is core to its service "and we have a deep and enduring responsibility to protect that work."

The big picture: Dozens of local newsrooms began laying people off this week out of fear the economic hit of the coronavirus could severely hit their ad revenue.

Go deeper: How newsrooms are preparing for coronavirus while also covering it

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Twitter donating $1 million to journalism nonprofits amid coronavirus

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