Facebook could start employing editors for its upcoming dedicated news section

In an attempt to mend its **tarnished reputation** as far as dissemination of news is considered, Facebook has said that the company could start employing editors to select “high-quality news” to show to users. [caption id=“attachment_5814591” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Image: Reuters[/caption] Facebook could potentially have a direct relationship with publishers in order to make sure that their content is available, said CEO Mark Zuckerberg, while speaking with Mathias Doepfner, CEO of Germany’s top news publishing house, Axel Springer. The discussion was part of his personal challenge for 2019 where Zuckerberg said he will host regular public discussions about the future of technology in society. In an hour-long video posted on Facebook, Zuckerberg also said that Facebook is considering to pay news publishers for sending curated content on this news section so as to reward, “high-quality, trustworthy content”. This product has said to be in development for some time and it should be ready to use by the end of this year. This news feature will have a separate section of Facebook and is said to run parallel alongside its long-established news feed feature. “We’re coming to this from a very different perspective than I think some of the other players in the space who view news as a way that they want to maximize their revenue. That’s not necessarily the way that we’re thinking about this.” said Zuckerberg. In his estimate, Zuckerberg says that 10-20 percent of Facebook’s two billion users would be interested in this news feature as many people would like to know what’s happening with their friends rather than read quality journalism. Up until now, Facebook has not paid publishers for news material, saying that they should be grateful for the additional traffic being sent their way via the social media giant’s network. Now the company wants to have “a direct relationship with publishers to make sure that their content is available if it’s really high-quality content.” The company could still entice publishers with ad revenue bolstered by minimum guarantees, says a report by Recode. In the wake of Facebook being accused of not checking ‘ **fake news** ’ on its platform, it would be a welcome change if the company provides its audience with verifiable news that gives readers with a clearer picture and not muddles information. With input from Reuters.