Mark Zuckerberg announced the new project during a live audio room, saying that the project was a “response to what’s happening in the media ecosystem.”Facebook has revealed its long-rumored standalone newsletter platform: Bulletin
Bulletin is built on a separate platform from Facebook — on its website, the FAQ states that this is to “enable creators to grow their audience in ways that are not exclusively dependent on the Facebook platform.” You don’t need a Facebook account to subscribe to a newsletter, but Bulletin relies on Facebook’s infrastructure, including the use of Facebook Pay to purchase premium subscriptions and join subscriber-only groups and live audio rooms.
Bulletin will host a mix of free and paid content. Some articles will be freely available, while others will be behind a paywall, with paid subscribers getting access to extra features like dedicated Facebook Groups or special badges.
Like newsletter upstart Substack, Facebook is reportedly paying some writers upfront for their participation. Zuckerberg also said Facebook won’t take a cut of writers’ earnings (at least initially), and will give them the ability to take their content and subscriber lists with them to a different platform.
Interestingly, unlike previous journalism initiatives from Facebook, Bulletin primarily lives outside of the main Facebook app. The newsletter platform has its own website and branding, though it will take advantage of Facebook’s distribution tools. The newsletters will be integrated into author’s Facebook pages and readers can find the content in the news section of Facebook’s app. Authors will also have the ability to “complement their writing” with podcasts and audio rooms, Zuckerberg said.
The initial lineup of writers includes authors like Malcom Gladwell and Adam Grant, and faces from TV like former CNN White House correspondent Jessica Yellin and former ESPN correspondent Erin Andrews. For now, it’s not clear when Facebook will open up Bulletin beyond its initial slate of hand-picked writers. The company describes the program as a “closed beta,” but Zuckerberg said more writers would be coming onboard in “the coming weeks,” including people specializing in local news. Recode previously reported that the company was eager to avoid the kind of “political” writers that have caused some headaches for Substack.
The initial slate of writers on Bulletin includes Malcom Gladwell, Mitch Albom, Erin Andrews and Tan France — the FAQ also notes that its beta program is U.S.-centric, with only two international writers at the moment (“We will look to include more international creators after our beta program launch,” Bulletin says.) Facebook is paying its writers up front for their contributions, and so far, doesn’t plan to take a cut of their profits. If writers choose to move off the platform, they will have the ability to take their subscriber lists with them.