Facebook wants to work better with media through ‘journalism project’

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Facebook and journalism seem to go hand-in-hand these days, and the tech giant is taking the next step to further strengthen their ties.

The internationally revered social network launched the ‘Facebook Journalism Project’ on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), which aims to create more collaboration with media entities, provide new tools for training and enlighten the public with education efforts.

The initiative is also designed to make sure “that a healthy news ecosystem and journalism can thrive,” the Business Insider reported.

Starting today, Facebook will be providing media groups with access to new and innovative features and tools for sharing stories on its network—including reader subscriptions and free analytics.

“We know that our community values sharing and discussing ideas and news, and as a part of our service, we care a great deal about making sure that a healthy news ecosystem and journalism can thrive,” Facebook director of product Fidji Simo wrote in a blog post announcing the program. “That’s why today we’re announcing a new program to establish stronger ties between Facebook and the news industry.”

Facebook’s latest salvo towards elevating their partnership with various media comes after the company was widely criticized for its role in disseminating misleading news and propaganda, and negligence in monitoring such, during the United States presidential elections.

Since then, the tech giant has rolled out several measures to eradicate fake stories by pulling out advertisements for such materials and hiring a group of third-party fact checkers.

READ: Google, Facebook to pull out ads from fake news sites

READ: Facebook partners with fact-checkers to eradicate fake news

The company also reportedly plans to reduce the spread of news hoaxes by finding easier methods  for people to report them more easily and to disrupt the financial incentives for spammers. Khristian Ibarrola