Facebook has launched its own 'Journalism Project' in an attempt to better work with news organisations and step up its attempt to crack down on fake news.
The California-based social media company introduced The Facebook Journalism Project overnight on Wednesday, which it said will work through collaborative development of news products, training and tools for journalists as well as educating its users to decipher real and fake news.
"We will be collaborating with news organisations 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," Facebook director of product Fidji Simo wrote in a blog.
Facebook has been heavily criticised in the aftermath of the US election which saw the surprise victory of Donald Trump. The social media site has been blamed for circulation of false stories prior to the election.
Through Facebook, and also Google in its search results, websites distributing fake news were able to use outlandish claims to lure in social media users, with the aim of making advertising revenue thanks to the clickbait nature of the stories.
Both Facebook and Google announced steps to punish fake news websites.
"We recently announced improvements on our platform to further reduce the spread of news hoaxes – including ways for people to report them more easily and new efforts to disrupt the financial incentives for spammers," Ms Simo said.
"In addition, we launched a program to work with third-party fact-checking organisations that are signatories of Poynter's International Fact Checking Code of Principles to identify hoaxes on Facebook. This problem is much bigger than any one platform, and it's important for all of us to work together to minimise its reach."
Facebook's Journalism Project announcement could be seen as another step in trying to deliver its users quality news content in their news feeds.
Facebook will look to extend its hackathon program and invite news organisations into the fold to help it come up with better products. It is planning to work more closely with news organisations to develop "new storytelling formats" and improve their exposure in users' news feeds. It also flagged an interest in supporting local and independent media.
The social media network is also looking for ways to promote news literacy to help Facebook users understand what sources are reputable.
"We will help organisations already doing important work in this area, such as the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, and bring a consortium of experts together to help decide on what new research to conduct and projects to fund," Ms Simo said.
"In the short-term, we are working with the News Literacy Project to produce a series of public service ads (PSAs) to help inform people on Facebook about this important issue. Our longer-term goal is to support news organisations with projects and ideas aimed at improving news literacy, including financial grants where needed."
