“This is a major economic challenge,” Sandberg said. “I think you’re right that marketers are afraid to put their ads up, but it’s also that a lot of businesses are closed… airlines are empty, hotels are empty or closed. So there’s a lot of marketing spend that’s not happening now and that’s certainly going to hit our business.”
“We want to support small businesses and support news organizations around the world,” Sandberg said. “I think we also have to realize how quickly the situation is evolving. We don’t know what will happen next and that means we need to be really nimble. We need to be focused on keeping our services up and making sure people get the right information.”
“Journalism is hugely important all the time, but it’s probably never been more important than it is right now, when people really need critical information about what’s going on,” said Sandberg. “That means that those businesses have to be supported. So we’re doing it by spending money and we’re doing it by granting money.”
“Local news is really important here. People need to know what’s happening in their local area, both from a health perspective and economic perspective, knowing what things are open,” Facebook (FB) COO Sheryl Sandberg told Yahoo Finance.
