Apple launches the News Partner Program

Apple has introduced the News Partner Program, a new slate of initiatives to expand Apple’s work with and support for journalism. 

The News Partner Program aim, in Apple’s words,”to ensure Apple News customers maintain access to trusted news and information from many of the world’s top publishers, while supporting publishers’ financial stability and advancing efforts to further media literacy and diversity in news coverage and newsrooms.”

The News Partner Program is designed for subscription news publications that provide their content to Apple News in Apple News Format (ANF). Apple says ANF enables an exceptional reading experience on Apple News and unlocks the full benefit of the platform for publishers, and empowers publishers to create brand-forward stories, immersive issues, and audio stories, with designs that scale seamlessly across Apple devices. 

ANF also supports advertising, and publishers keep 100% of the revenue from advertising they sell within Apple News. To support publishers who optimize more of their content in ANF, Apple News is offering a commission rate of 15% on qualifying in-app purchase subscriptions from day one.

“Providing Apple News customers with access to trusted information from our publishing partners has been our priority from day one,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, said in the press release. “For more than a decade, Apple has offered our customers many ways to access and enjoy news content across our products and services. We have hundreds of news apps from dozens of countries around the world available in the App Store, and created Apple News Format to offer publishers a tool to showcase their content and provide a great experience for millions of Apple News users.”

Publishers may apply for the News Partner Program beginning today.

Apple is also announcing a recommitment of support to three leading nonprofit organizations — Common Sense Media, the News Literacy Project, and Osservatorio Permanente Giovani-Editori — that offer nonpartisan, independent media literacy programs. Apple has been supporting the work of these organizations over the past two years as part of ongoing efforts to empower young people with critical thinking skills.

The News Partner Program will also support, fund, and collaborate with additional leading organizations globally that educate news consumers on media literacy and further efforts to diversify news coverage and newsrooms. Specific projects the News Partner Program will support will be announced at a later date, and will represent organizations doing critical and impactful work on these issues.