This week Facebook confirmed it will begin testing new ways for news publishers to sell digital subscriptions on the social network this fall. Privately, for months, leaders of major news outlets who were being briefed by the company have been expressing enthusiasm for Facebook’s plans.
Frankly, I’ve been a little surprised by their zeal. Just three years ago, some of these very same leaders had harsh words for the first internet company that ate their business by standing between them and their readers: Google.
