Facebook News now official, to pay publishers 'millions of dollars'

Social media Facebook has announced the launch of Facebook News, which will pay news organisation for news headlines -- reportedly millions of dollars in some cases, as expected. Facebook News will be available to users in the form of a separate 'News Tab' in the Facebook mobile app. It will display headlines from news publishers like the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Business Insider, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, among others. Apart from the global headlines, local stories from major US cities and smaller towns will also be available in the 'News' tab.

Facebook News: How it works

Tapping on those headlines will take you directly to publisher websites or apps (depending on whatever you have installed on your phone). This has been a long-requested initiative from publishers. But what does it means for Facebook as a platform? Well, this is potentially a big step for Facebook that has long struggled with both stamping out misinformation and making nice with struggling purveyors of news. Though media watchers remain sceptical that Facebook is really committed to helping sustain the news industry.

Facebook did not reveal what all publications are getting paid and how much, saying only that it will be paying "a range of publishers for access to all of their content." Just last year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he wasn't sure it "makes sense " to pay news outlets for their material.

"Journalism plays a critical role in our democracy. When news is deeply-reported and well-sourced it gives people information they can rely on. When it’s not, we lose an essential tool for making good decisions," Facebook said in its announcement. People want and benefit from personalised experiences on Facebook, but we know there is reporting that transcends individual experience. We want to support both.

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Last year, Facebook killed its previous effort to curate news, Trending topics after conservatives complained about political bias, leading Facebook to fire its human editors and automate the section until it began recycling false stories, after which the social giant shut it down entirely.

Facebook said a small team of "seasoned" journalists it employs would choose the headlines for the "Today's Story" section of the tab, designed to "catch you up" on the day's news. The rest of the news section will be populated with stories algorithmically based on users' interests.

(With AP inputs)