New York (AFP)
Accused of spreading misinformation, Facebook announced Friday the launch of a news feed in partnership with media outlets, to promote professional journalism and revamp the crest of the world's first social network.
"I have been talking with media outlets and journalists for several years about how we could support quality journalism on Facebook," Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said in announcing the new thread "Facebook News".
"Journalism is important for our democracy and progress together in the face of problems," he said on his Facebook page. "Leading Internet services have the responsibility to partner with media outlets to create viable long-term models to fund this important work."
Mark Zuckerberg was due to publicly present the new product in New York at midday, in partnership with Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp., the group of magnate Rupert Murdoch which includes the Wall Street Journal and Fox News.
Launched Friday as a test for a "subgroup" of unspecified US users, this news feed will be the result of a selection fed by professional journalists and "personalization" algorithms.
- More than 200 media partners -
It will be separate from the flow of information that users receive through their "news feed" - where there is a lot of information not from professional media - and will include articles from partner news organizations.
Among them, more than 200 media including Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, People, ABC, CBS News or Fox News.
The cost of this new product was not immediately specified, nor the amounts that will be paid to the partners.
Facebook News will give "people more control over the items they see and the opportunity to explore a wider range of interests, directly via the Facebook app," the California-based group said in a statement. .
This thread should "highlight the main national news of the day", and also focus on "entertainment, health, economy, sport", four themes that Facebook users have said were particularly fond .
The social network says it has set up a team of journalists with "editorial independence" that will select articles on the basis of directives visible to all.
- Positive reactions -
This launch illustrates - as another recently launched project to support local American media - the platform's willingness to respond to criticism of traditional media.
The latter accused Facebook of being a major player in spreading false information, and siphon part of their advertising revenue.
The first reactions to "Facebook News" were rather encouraging.
"I'm hopeful for this Facebook initiative, because it signals to an audience accustomed to skepticism about the information that + Ca is good, it has been filtered and published by professionals," said Ken Paulson , Director of the Center for Freedom of Expression at Middle Tennessee State University.
"My long-term hope for the media industry is that a growing number of consumers recognize the difference between quality and chaos, and are willing to pay for quality," he added.
"Consumers who are not connoisseurs of information may not see the difference between exaggerated or false and viral information, and true journalism from respected media," said Dan Kennedy, a university professor. Northeastern. This project "should therefore help a lot".
Facebook News has "the potential to change the way users find information on the network." Currently, information is pushed to people via their + news feed +, without them having to go looking for them, as it does. is the case on Twitter, Apple News or applications dedicated to information, "said Damian Radcliffe, a professor of journalism at the University of Oregon.
One thing is certain, he says: Facebook "is playing a growing role in the information we see, it's more than just an information distribution platform, and it's increasingly difficult for them to claim that they are not a medium, especially now that they will pay for some of the content of this news feed. "
© 2019 AFP