Facebook begins rollout of 'News Tab' in US to promote 'quality journalism'

Facebook on Friday began rolling out its dedicated "News Tab" with professionally produced content, the latest move by the social network to promote journalism and shed its reputation as a platform for misinformation.

The news section will be separate from user's normal feeds and include articles from partner news organisations, with Facebook relying on both human curation and algorithmic "personalisation."

Labelled Facebook News, the new tab "gives people more control over the stories they see, and the ability to explore a wider range of their news interests, directly within the Facebook app," said a Facebook statement.

The initiative is in line with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's call to promote "quality journalism" and help readers separate professional content from viral hoaxes.

"We talked to news organisations about what they'd like to see included in a news tab, how their stories should be presented and what analytics to provide," said Facebook vice president for news partnerships Campbell Brown and product manager Mona Sarantakos, Product Manager in a statement.

Earlier this week, Zuckerberg pointed to a "big announcement" on news and journalism and indicated the new feature would highlight "high quality news, not just social content."

Facebook is expected to pay some of the news organizations that will contribute to the News Tab but has yet to disclose full details.

The social network has partnered with some 200 news organizations including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CBS News, BuzzFeed, Fox News, the Boston Globe, Bloomberg and Vanity Fair.

Facebook said it would begin an initial test rollout which would "showcase local original reporting by surfacing local publications from the largest major metro areas across the country, beginning with New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Houston, Washington DC, Miami, Atlanta and Boston.