Facebook doubles down on curated News Tab

Facebook is looking to introduce more news products for its News Tab in the coming months, including more curated collections around big events and breaking news. The News Tab, a separate destination for news on Facebook from publishers selected by the tech giant, has helped the company address regulatory scrutiny that it doesn't do enough to combat misinformation. It is currently live in the US, UK, Australia and Germany, with other English-speaking countries in consideration. Facebook says the News Tab now contributes to over 30 percent of overall Facebook news link referral traffic for US, UK and German publishers included in the tab. Publishers have said Facebook's News Tab has so far been a more reliable source of traffic than the News Feed. For years the company was hesitant to lean into news curation, with its chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg saying in 2017 "we don't hire journalists." But today, the company leans on people with editorial backgrounds to curate products in its News Tab in addition to using algorithms. Soon it will begin including content from its Bulletin newsletter program writers into its news products within the News Tab.