Zuckerberg promises to show Facebook users more local news

Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook will now start showing users more local news stories in their feeds — the latest in a string of reforms the company has announced in 2018.  “Local news helps build community — both on and offline,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post. “It's an important part of making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is valuable.”

Starting Jan 29, Zuckerberg said, local news stories shared by users or the news outlets themselves will show up higher in users’ feeds. The Facebook CEO suggested that promoting local news could lead to increased civic engagement and less polarization. The move comes as Facebook is trying to appease critics who think the platform has been enabling the spread of misinformation, particularly in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.