WASHINGTON, Oct 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Facebook on Friday began rolling out
its dedicated “news tab” with professionally produced content — the latest
move by the social network to promote journalism and shed its reputation as a
platform for misinformation.
The tab, being tested with some US users, will be separate from a user’s
normal feed and include articles from partner news organizations — making a
clear distinction between journalism and stories shared by users from a wide
range of sources.
“This is going to be the first time ever there will be a dedicated space on
the (Facebook) app that is focused on high-quality journalism,” chief
executive Mark Zuckerberg told an audience in New York in a joint appearance
with CEO Robert Thomson of News Corp, one of the partners in the project.
The mix of stories in Facebook News will be determined by algorithmic
“personalization” based on a user’s preferences and data, with journalists
choosing some of the stories.
The company said users would have “more control over the stories they see,
and the ability to explore a wider range of their news interests, directly
within the Facebook app.”
Facebook is expected to pay some of the news organizations — reportedly
millions of dollars in some cases — but has yet to disclose full details.
Zuckerberg said Facebook would not seek to limit coverage of the company or
himself.
– Going global? –
Zuckerberg said he sees the effort as important even if it is used by only
a small percentage of Facebook users. And he said the company is in
discussions to bring the feature to other countries.
“We want to do something like this across the world as well,” he said.
The social network has partnered with some 200 news organizations including
The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, CBS News, BuzzFeed,
Fox News, the Boston Globe, Bloomberg and Vanity Fair.
Zuckerberg defended the inclusion of partners some criticize as politically
partisan such as the right-wing outlet Breitbart, saying the news tab “needs
to have a diversity of views.”
Facebook said it would begin an initial test rollout which would “showcase
local original reporting” from publications in major cities including New
York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Houston, Washington, Miami,
Atlanta and Boston.
Topic sections will include business, entertainment, health, science and
technology, and sports.
– Rebooting the relationship –
The move represents Facebook’s effort to reboot its relationship with news
organizations, many of which have been critical of the platform for failing
to curb the spread of misinformation and for taking much of the online ad
revenue.
The plan notably brings together Facebook and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
Thomson, the News Corp CEO who last year denounced what he called a
“dysfunctional” online landscape that made it hard for publishers to thrive,
welcomed the Facebook initiative in the joint appearance with Zuckerberg.
“It is a powerful precedent that will echo around editorial departments,”
said Thomson, whose company includes the Wall Street Journal.
“It begins to change the terms of trade for quality journalism.”
– Paying for ‘good stuff’ –
Northeastern University professor Dan Kennedy said the tab could help
Facebook users distinguish between misinformation and professional news.
“Less savvy news consumers might not be able to tell the difference between
exaggerated or fake viral news and real journalism from respected news
organizations,” Kennedy said.
“So this should help a lot.”
But Kennedy said it could be problematic that Facebook may only be paying
the richest media organizations, increasing woes for small, local outlets.
Ken Paulson, a former USA Today editor who now heads the Free Speech Center
at Middle Tennessee State University, agreed that the initiative will promote
better content.
“My long-term hope for the news business is that more consumers will
recognize the difference between quality and chaos and be willing to pay for
the good stuff,” Paulson said.
University of Oregon journalism professor Damian Radcliffe noted that
Facebook users currently “bump into” news in their feed, as opposed to
actively seeking it out.
He said the project raises “important questions here about how transparent
the story selection process will be, and what Facebook is effectively saying
about news which sits outside of the tab. Does that means it’s deemed less
trustworthy?”