Facebook Inc. has awarded a total of nearly $170,000 from its COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program to three Virginia media outlets: The Richmond Free Press, Charlottesville Tomorrow and the Henrico Citizen, reports Virginia Business.

“Facebook received more than 2,000 applications for the funding, dividing more than $10 million in grants among 144 local U.S. newsrooms to support publishers who have been hard-hit by plummeting advertising revenues during the pandemic. The grants stem from $25 million in local news relief funding that Facebook announced in March as part of a $100 million global investment to support the news industry,” stated Virginia Business.

“We’re proud to support this diverse group of publishers — many of which are family or independently owned,” Campbell Brown, vice president of global news partnerships at Facebook said in a statement. “Not only are these journalists working tirelessly to serve people right now — they’re focused on transformation, building innovative local news businesses that can continue to serve communities beyond the current pandemic.”

More here.