Facebook in public testing of news tab

Facebook has started testing its news tab with selected users as the social network seeks to push people towards quality journalism.

The service will only be available to a subset in the US initially, as a separate section on the platform partly curated by journalists.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg first set out his ambition for the project in April, saying that he wants the tech giant to support struggling news outlets.

Publishers have been increasingly squeezed by Facebook’s dominant position, as more people opt to consume news from Facebook’s News Feed.

Changing algorithms have also been a challenge for many news outlets trying to maximise the reach of their work on Facebook.

In the first wave of testing, Facebook News will showcase original reporting from local publications in major metro areas of the US, including New York, Los Angeles and Boston.

The section will eventually feature top stories chosen by journalists, personalised articles based on the news users read, and specific topic sections, as well as a section for people who have linked their paid news subscriptions to their Facebook account.

There will also be the ability to hide articles, topics and publishers that users do not wish to see.

However, the social network admitted it shares publishers’ concerns about the personalised part of the project, because of the limits to machine learning.”

It is not clear when the service will arrive in the UK, but the social network stopped taking applications for a news curator role based in its London offices at the beginning of this month.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.