FACEBOOK has teamed up with news organisations including The Northern Echo publisher Newsquest to fund a £4.5m initiative to boost journalism in local communities.

The social media service has today launched its Community News Project which is designed to increase the creation, consumption and distribution of reliable and relevant community news.

Facebook will work together with regional news publishers and the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) to recruit, train and qualify about 80 additional community journalists who will be placed in newsrooms across England, Scotland and Wales - covering "underserved" areas which might have lost their local newspaper and beat reporters.

Sian Cox-Brooker, strategic partner manager at Facebook, said: “Having started my career at my local paper, I understand how local news really helps to inform and strengthen communities.

“Together with the NCTJ and regional news publishers, we want to help encourage more reporting in underserved areas of the UK.

"Our hope is that, ultimately, the Community News Project helps more people access the news that matters to them most.”

The two-year project has been made possible by a charitable donation of £4.5m by Facebook to the NCTJ.

Partners include publishers Newsquest, Reach, Johnston Press, Archant and Midland News Association.

The community journalists will have access to a full training programme from the NCTJ, while working.

Trainees without the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism will receive training to achieve the qualification, while those who have passed the diploma will work towards a new National Qualification in Journalism for community journalists.

They will also have access to a range of training from Facebook focused on digital newsgathering skills.

David Higgerson, chief audience officer at Reach, who has led discussions about the scope of the project on behalf of the publishers, said: “This project is a fantastic way of increasing the number of stories published that would otherwise not be covered.

“The funding will help us pioneer new ways of local news gathering and distributing stories to underserved communities."

The project also aims to help improve the diversity of newsrooms, an issue which was highlighted in the NCTJ’s recent Journalists at Work 2018 report.

Journalists will be recruited from a range of backgrounds, with the aim of helping make newsrooms more diverse and inclusive.

Joanne Butcher, chief executive of the NCTJ, said: “The NCTJ cares deeply about the number, quality and diversity of journalists working in our local communities.

“We are very proud to support the sustainability of quality local journalism by overseeing the recruitment of additional local news journalists from diverse and inclusive backgrounds and by ensuring they are properly trained and qualified.”

More information will be made available in early 2019 when applications for the scheme will open.