It is worth remembering the Australia fiasco. The Australian media led by Murdoch basically shook down Facebook until they came to am agreement to give the media kickbacks. Then Australia agreed not to apply its law.

The European media has also demanded payments, even though the value flows from sending traffic to news sites and not the other way around.

The media seems to believe it is entitled to be send traffic AND to be paid for it. Common story all over the world.

So, to reduce those demands in America, Facebook pays kickbacks to the biggest media orgs.

Here, the media publication is presenting it as a grant for favourable coverage. But the far more likely explanation is Facebook knows the media will shake it down for more money unless it gives them a payoff.