Apple News “doesn’t drive real revenue, but does drive traffic” while Facebook is an “important form of advertising sales”, according to the digital managing director for the Independent and Evening Standard.

Zach Leonard told Press Gazette that he is keeping a “watching brief” on Apple News – a pre-installed mobile and tablet app that aggregates news content on iPhones and iPads from contributing publishers.

He said the ability to sell advertising into Apple News was “valuable” and that it was a “brilliant marketing device” for content, but added: “In my view they are a technology company first and are taking advantage of such a high penetration of users through smartphones and tablets.”