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Facebook has reportedly reached deals with multiple publishers to provide content for upcoming news tab – USA TODAY


Facebook will soon launch a new tab dedicated to news, and the tech giant has already reportedly reached deals with several prominent publishers that will supply content.

Whisperings about the news section emerged in August after the Wall Street Journal reported that it was approached by the social networking website. On Friday, the publication said it reached a deal with Facebook, which is also said to be working with the New York Post, Washington Post, BuzzFeed News and Business Insider.

The WSJ also said that other News Corp. and Dow Jones publications will supply headlines for the news section. It could launch before the end of October.

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Some of the publishers will be paid licensing fees ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to a few million, according to the report. The social media behemoth sought to include stories from roughly 200 publishers, though all aren’t being paid, according to sources close to the matter.

A system of algorithms and human editors will decide what new content will appear for readers. There will also be a breaking news section with 10 of the “top” stories of the moment selected by human editors, the WSJ reports. 

Facebook wasn’t immediately available for comment, though earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he wants the platform to “surface more high-quality news.” Facebook confirmed in August that a news tab was on the way this fall. 

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Facebook has faced sharp criticism for years over proliferating the spread of false information, which is a problem because 44% of American adults get their news from Facebook, according to the Pew Research Center. 

Facebook has also toyed with different ways of displaying news for readers.

In late 2016, Facebook fired the human editors responsible for its trending topics section and replaced them with software that was supposed to be unbiased. In 2018, it scrapped the Trending news section altogether. It later launched a service called “Today In,” which focuses on local news. 

Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_Brown. 



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