• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Tech

Facebook Is Hiring Journalists Ahead of a Closely-Watched Return to News

By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 20, 2019, 6:00 AM ET

Facebook is dabbling again in something that has earned it intense criticism in the past: the news.

The social network said on Tuesday that it wants to hire a small team of journalists to oversee an area on its service where users will be able to read news articles. The News Tab, which is expected to debut in the fall, will feature the biggest stories of the day, as selected by the journalists, along with articles chosen by algorithms that take into account users’ interests and habits.

The company didn’t disclosed details about the new feature or a date for its premiere, saying the tab is still being developed. That section will be located at the bottom of the Facebook app alongside Marketplace, Events, and Profile.

“Our goal with the News Tab is to provide a personalized, highly relevant experience for people,” Campbell Brown, head of Facebook’s news partnerships, said in a statement. “For the Top News section of the tab, we’re pulling together a small team of journalists to ensure we’re highlighting the right stories.”

The announcement comes about a year after Facebook shut down Trending Topics, a feature on desktop computers-only that showed users popular topics being discussed across the social network based on algorithms. Before being shut down, the feature was slammed for spitting out misinformation, conspiracy theories, and politically-biased news.

When Trending Topics originally debuted in 2014, it was managed by a team of journalists, who quickly faced withering attacks after reportedly suppressing conservative news. Facebook laid off the journalists before switching to an automated system.

Facebook’s return to curating news comes as it tries to make nice with publishers, many of which lost huge amounts of traffic after Facebook decided a year and a half ago to show users more posts from their friends and fewer news articles. Facebook, along with fellow social media services like Twitter, has also faced increasing accusations by conservatives that it deletes or downplays their posts because of liberal bias.

Facebook has denied that bias has anything to do with what appears or doesn’t appear on its service. Instead, it says it bans users, including conservative conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, for violating its policies against hate speech and inciting violence based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.

Facebook, which has long claimed it isn’t a media company, said the journalists it hires for its new feature will solely be responsible for selecting top stories that appear in the upcoming news section. Journalists will not write articles or edit headlines, Facebook said.

The company emphasized that the Top News section will significantly differ from its predecessor, Trending Topics. The journalists managing it will have extensive experience and be Facebook employees rather than contractors with limited experience.

In 2015, Facebook introduced Instant Articles, which allowed publishers to post articles directly to Facebook. According to a study by Columbia Journalism Review, the feature was unpopular with publishers, who argued that they didn’t make enough money, gave them limited control over where ads appeared, and didn’t provide the ability to track data related to the articles.

Hoping to avoid similar complaints, Facebook is, this time, working with a small group of publishers, and collecting feedback to determine how the News Tab should look. The company is also considering which publishers are credible—an inevitable hot-button topic— and how it will combat misinformation and bias.

Facebook said it’s working on paying some publishers to get quicker access to their content. The company has not said how much those publishers will be paid.

More must-read stories from Fortune:

—What you need to know about 8chan, the controversial site tied to the El Paso shooting
—Verizon’s unlimited plans are getting cheaper. Here’s what you should know
—What CEOs, bankers, and tech execs think about a coming recession
—How an alleged Amazon theft ring got the goods
—Boeing adds a second flight control computer to the 737 Max
Catch up with Data Sheet, Fortune‘s daily digest on the business of tech.

About the Author
By Danielle Abril
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

sam altman
AIOpenAI
Sam Altman tells staff at an all-hands that OpenAI is negotiating a deal with the Pentagon, after Trump orders the end of Anthropic contracts
By Sharon GoldmanFebruary 27, 2026
2 hours ago
Future of Workthe future of work
Have good taste? It may just get you a job during the AI jobs apocalypse, says Sam Altman
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezFebruary 27, 2026
2 hours ago
CybersecurityMeta
Trump’s FTC backs off social media regulation despite finding that nearly 20% of America’s children are online for 4 hours or more
By Catherina GioinoFebruary 27, 2026
3 hours ago
Emil Michael smirks
AIAnthropic
Emil Michael, the Silicon Valley exec turned Trump official leading the war against Anthropic, has deep ties to the tech world
By Lily Mae LazarusFebruary 27, 2026
3 hours ago
AIMilitary
Trump orders U.S. government to stop using Anthropic but gives Pentagon six months to phase it out while Hegseth adds supply-chain risk designation
By Jason MaFebruary 27, 2026
4 hours ago
Arts & EntertainmentHollywood
The battle over WBD left three big winners on Wall Street—while the thousands who lost out will remain behind the scenes
By Geoff ColvinFebruary 27, 2026
4 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Innovation
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt robot vacuum maker iRobot says Elon Musk’s vision of humanoid robot assistants is ‘pure fantasy thinking’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Jeff Bezos says being lazy, not working hard, is the root of anxiety: ‘The stress goes away the second I take that first step’
By Sydney LakeFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
'The Pitt': a masterclass display of DEI in action 
By Robert RabenFebruary 26, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Trump claims America is ‘winning so much.’ The IMF agrees, adding that Trump’s trade policies are the only thing holding it back from even more
By Tristan BoveFebruary 26, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
It’s more than George Clooney moving to France: America is becoming the ‘uncool’ country that people want to move away from
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 27, 2026
17 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Gen Z Olympic champion Eileen Gu says she rewires her brain daily to be more successful—and multimillionaire founder Arianna Huffington says it really does work
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.