EL PAÍS to help Facebook fight fake news
Social network backs quality journalism by placing our content in user news feeds
The social network Facebook has launched a new product that will see it working closely with leading news outlets, including EL PAÍS, in a bid to improve the quality of the news it carries. On Wednesday, the company that boasts 1.8 billion worldwide users launched its Facebook Journalism Project, which the company describes as “a new program to establish stronger ties between Facebook and the news industry.”
“We will be collaborating with news organizations to develop products, learning from journalists about ways we can be a better partner, and working with publishers and educators on how we can equip people with the knowledge they need to be informed readers in the digital age,” said the company in a statement.
Facebook users will see a carefully curated selection of EL PAÍS stories in their news feed
The Facebook Journalism Project has three main components: the collaborative development of news products with media outlets; training and tools for journalists; and the identification of false news and rumors on social networks – a move that comes in response to criticism of Facebook for carrying hoax news stories during the recent US presidential campaign.
One of the new features of the project is a daily smartphone service offering Facebook users a selection of news stories created and edited by journalists. The service will comprise five special items – in Spanish only – that will appear in the news feed of Facebook users, and EL PAÍS has been selected as one of the participating media outlets.
This is how the new service, to be rolled out at the end of the week, works:
1. To see our daily news selection, you have to follow EL PAÍS on Facebook.
2. The content will appear in your Facebook news feed every morning at 6am in your local time zone.
3. You will only be able to see these stories on your mobile phone, and they will appear in the Instant Articles format, which allows for high-speed downloading of content, including photos and videos.
4. To open a story, you need to swipe upwards, while swiping to the right will take you to the next story.
5. To receive alerts about new stories, you only need to activate notifications in the last of the day’s five selections.
English version by George Mills.
