Facebook to Launch a Dedicated ‘News’ Tab

Facebook is planning to launch a dedicated ‘News’ tab. This tab will provide users with news stories from hundreds of different news organizations. This will mark the return of Facebook to the news-delivery business and compete with Apple and Google.

Facebook has approached different news outlets that include ABC News, Dow Jones, The Washington Post, and Bloomberg. It has offered to pay them $3 million to license content for its New Tab.

Facebook is making an effort to combat the issue of spread of fake news. Pew Research Center conducted a study in which it found that 60% of US adults that prefer getting news via social media said that it shared false information.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about this announcement said, “Later in this week we actually have a big announcement coming up on launching a big initiative around news and journalism where we’re partnering with a lot of folks to build a new product that’s supporting high-quality journalism.”

Adding, “I think there’s an opportunity within Facebook and our services to build a dedicated surface — a tab within the apps, for example – where people who really want to see high-quality, curated news, not just social content, but from high-quality publishers, could go and consume that content.”