Facebook wants people to know it cares about the future of journalism. Perhaps spurred by the furor over fake news and the implication that the social media giant unwittingly perpetuated fake news, the company has launched The Facebook Journalism Project, according to a report in Recode. “We care a great deal about making sure that a healthy news ecosystem and journalism can thrive,” product exec Fidji Simo writes in a post discussing the Project. Last week, Facebook hired Campbell Brown, a former NBC TV news anchor, to serve as a liaison to …

Former Politico founder Jim VandeHei says "media is broken" and he's hoping to fix it with his new startup called Axios, a group of newsletters launching on Jan. 18, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. VandeHei says banner ads and long-form native ads don't work. "Axios will only offer advertisers a type of short-form branded content. It will fit all on one screen and will lie more naturally within its editorial concept of providing readers bite-size bits of hard news and information," according to the report. VandeHei said that readers want shorter, more "digestible news" that's "more …

Publicis Groupe is is expected to appoint one of its former media agency executives, Andrew Swinand, as chief executive of Leo Burnett in North America, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The holding company is also in discussions to acquire digital marketing shop The Abundancy and analytics firm Ardent. Swinand's appointment and the acquistiions are viewed as decisions to shift Burnett into data and technology as advertising business segues from reliance on TV advertising. Burnett is known for its creative prowess with 30-second TV spots. This would be a return to Publicis for Swinand who spent more …