Facebook, one of the most popular social media platforms, has taken an initiative to roll out a full-fledged news section in the United States. The social media giant has decided to pay publishers for original reporting and top-notch content. In the near future, the organization will also expand its news vertical in different countries like Brazil, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
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The need for Facebook News
It is a well-known fact that Facebook has served as number one news distributor and also took steps to fill the pockets of the publishers with the profits earned by their news. However, all the publishers, big or small, always raised the issue that Facebook has uneven distribution policies and unleveled playing fields for different publishers.
This inclined Facebook towards promoting quality content on the platform by paying the publishers and curbing the fake news thing prevailing on the platform. Previously, the organization has suffered a lot of backlash because it has served as a significant medium for the spread of fake news. Ahead of the November Presidential elections, this move by Facebook will also clean the image of the organization.
What is precisely Facebook News?
Basically, It is a platform where you get all the latest news articles from the most trusted and popular sources in the world. The testing of the same started in the year 2019 with a handful of users based in the United States.
As of now, the service has been completely rolled out for the Facebook users in the US and will be soon rolled out in countries like India, Canada, Germany, UK, and France. However, Facebook has clearly said that the service will take almost six months to a year to get rolled out in the mentioned countries.
How Facebook News works?
On Facebook News, if a reader clicks on particular news, then he/she will be directed to the original publisher’s site. All Facebook users can read the articles on the publisher’s site for free. In case any publisher has a paywall, then too readers can read the article for free after which they will be asked to pay for the subscription.
This is definitely going to stop the spread of fake news on the platform as now Fcaebook will have its own news vertical that will show all the real and appropriate news. It is also expected that Facebook will come up with a more powerful filter for removing the fake news.
Publications
The social media giant has said that more than 200 publications are a part of Facebook News. Publications like BuzzFeed, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, ABC News, and the Washington Post are a part of Facebook’s extravagant initiative.
As per the reports, Facebook is going to pay a whopping amount of $1 million to $3 million to the companies who are a part of their new news venture. The company has not disclosed any names of the local Indian publication that want to collaborate with Facebook and be part of Facebook News’ Indian vertical.
Conclusion
Facebook news is going to give a tough competition to Apple News as both serve the same purpose. However, publications like The Guardian and New York Times have already pulled down their partnership with Apple News as the platform was not able to provide them with promised benefits. It will be interesting to see the audience’s reaction towards Facebook’s news vertical.
