A few days ago, Facebook confirmed that it’s terminating its trending news portal, which wasn’t that popular with users to begin with. But Facebook will replace the trending section with a few news-related products, including its own Facebook Watch news show.
With its news endeavor, Facebook might kill two birds with one stone. By actually taking charge of real news, the company might finally fix its fake news problem. Also, the news section might actually make Facebook Watch popular with Facebook users.
A report revealed details about the new service even before Facebook announced it as a footnote in its blog post that detailed that the trending news section is being discontinued. It’s Axios that has even more details about Facebook’s news endeavor.
The news section will launch this summer with more than a dozen partner. The list includes ABC, CNN, Fox, Univision, ATTN, Advanced Local, and Mic, and these partners were selected based on how well they use Facebook video to engage with audiences.
Furthermore, big names Anderson Cooper and Jorge Ramos will have their Facebook-specific news shows, the report notes. A previous report said that Fox’s Shepard Smith is also hosting a segment. Even though content will be produced by partners, it’s Facebook that’s financing the news TV station, previous reports have said.
A sizzle reel hosted on Dropbox promotes the new service. You’ll probably see these ads for the news service on Facebook once the social network — media company? — is ready to launch the service.
