Facebook News is Available to Everyone

There’s a new focus on local news, too

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Updated on June 9, 2020 06:36PM EDT

Since many of us get our news from social media as it is, Facebook hopes to provide local and national journalistic content to everyone and hopefully keep fake news to a minimum.

Facebook News on iPhone — Original image: do you mockup

Facebook finally rolled out its dedicated News section to everyone in the US on Tuesday, with a dedicated local news module included. First reported by TechCrunch, the feature has been in testing since October 2019.

What’s in there? Facebook says it will include general, diverse, topical, and local news from publishing partners that meet Facebook guidelines for integrity and factual information. Human beings will decide what gets included in your news feed (though algorithms, says TechCrunch, will continue to play a role).

How to get it: Head to your Facebook mobile app, tap the little hamburger (three lines) menu and choose News. If you access it often, you’ll soon see the News icon appear in the tab bar at the top (or bottom) of your Facebook app. You may also see breaking news alerts, news digests around timely topics like COVID-19, and even more targeted notifications. The News feature should appear on desktop soon, but has not yet launched, TechCrunch notes.

Bottom line: While Facebook hasn’t had the best track record with unbiased News content, this current push could be a better way to keep up with news instead of only hearing what your family and friends are posting. With better journalistic standards required, Facebook could help prevent the spread of fake and highly biased news across its network.

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