As part of its commitment to show news that is “trustworthy, informative, and local” on its platform, Facebook is creating a dedicated news section within Watch, featuring news shows produced by news publishers, exclusively for Facebook.
Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it would be shutting down its Trending section in favour of other ways to keep people informed by trustworthy news sources. As explained by Alex Hardiman, one of those ways is a dedicated News Video section on Watch in the United States, where people can “view live coverage, daily news briefings and weekly deep dives that are exclusive to Watch.” And now, Facebook has announced it has started to test it.
The funded news shows for the new section will be produced exclusively for Facebook by news publishers, and the first slate of them includes a lineup of shows that includes “news publishers from broadcast to digital native, national and local.” As Campbell Brown, Head of Global News Partnerships at Facebook explains, “the shows will be hosted by award-winning journalists, as well as new faces, and the formats will vary from a mix of daily briefings, weekly deep dives, and live breaking news coverage.”
The first will debut in the summer, and more shows will be announced within the next few weeks. Facebook says it will “work closely” with publishers to experiment with different formats to be able to understand what works best, but publishers will have full editortial control of the shows.
The first funded shows include:
- ABC News’ “On Location.” A daily news show with ABC News journalists from around the globe delivering on-the-ground reporting and the top headlines that are driving the day.
- Advance Local’s “Chasing Corruption.” In Alabama Media Group’s Chasing Corruption’s weekly series, host Ian Hoppe and the Reckon by AL.com team travel across the USA to meet some of America’s toughest watchdog journalists — and the stories of conspiracy, bribery, fraud and more they’ve uncovered.
- ATTN:’s “Undivided ATTN:” A weekly explainer show that breaks down the biggest issue of the week. In 3-5 minute episodes hosted by a rotating cast of social influencers, Undivided ATTN: will provide context on the stories everybody’s talking about.
- CNN’s “Anderson Cooper Full Circle.” A daily global brief on the world, M-F evenings featuring Anderson Cooper and a roster of guests. The interactive program will air live from Anderson’s New York City newsroom in mobile-friendly vertical video.
- FOX News’ “Fox News Update” will focus on up-to-the-minute breaking news and the most compelling stories of the day. FNC’s chief news anchor Shepard Smith will report the latest news each weekday afternoon, with Carley Shimkus updating viewers every morning. Additionally, Abby Huntsman will provide the most recent headlines once each morning throughout the weekend.
- Mic’s “Mic Dispatch” reveals the world as we see it: complicated, diverse and full of potential. Mic correspondents on this new, twice-weekly show go beyond the headlines to profile the underrepresented, the problem-solvers and the provocateurs.”
- Univision’s “Real America with Jorge Ramos.” The award-winning journalist, anchor and author Jorge Ramos travels the country to talk to immigrants from diverse backgrounds and situations, delivering a rarely covered view of today’s America from their perspective. Univision will also cover the top stories in Spanish at noon every day on Watch with “Noticiero Univision Edición Digital.”
https://www.facebook.com/facebookwatch/videos/1691576720925605/
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