Facebook introduced Signal for both Facebook and Instagram. Reddit announced it has embeddable comment threads.  Apple News debuted as part of the new iOS 9 operating system and it replaces Newstand. 

Each of the tools, according to its creators, is designed to help online journalists gather news, share it and discuss it. The tools are supposed to help by making it easier to see what ‘s trending across platforms, to pull info together across platforms and to insert and distribute your own reports and content directly on certain devices. 

For Facebook and Apple, the introductions are part of their ongoing march into the online news business. The sheer size and influence of the companies almost command that journaists as well as startups and large and small news sites experiment with the tools. In short, they are not to be ignored. The free resources may be especially useful for cash-strapped startups, news entrepreneurs and independent journalists. 

Laura Hazard Owen at Nieman Lab provides an overview about news organizations updating their apps for the new Apple system.  Facebook provides the fundamentals of how Signal works.  Reddit tells how to use its new embeddable comment threads which are “available for everyone on all public subreddits," aka as reddit forums in small town and communities.