News Corp to supply headlines for Facebook's upcoming news tab

[October 19, 2019]    (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's <FB.O> upcoming news tab will feature headlines from the Wall Street Journal and some other News Corp <NWSA.O> media properties when it launches in fall of 2019, the social network said on Friday.

Stickers bearing the Facebook logo are pictured at Facebook Inc's F8 developers conference in San Jose, California, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo

The WSJ, which first reported about the deal, said news publications Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, and Business Insider have also reached a similar deal with Facebook.

The news organizations will be paid a licensing fee to supply headlines, the WSJ reported.

Last year, News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch had called on Facebook to pay "trusted" news publishers a carriage fee, similar to the model used by cable companies.

Certain headlines appearing in Facebook's news section will be curated by a team of editors, while others will be selected by the company's algorithm, according to the WSJ report.

Following criticism that Facebook has a lax approach to fake news reports and state-backed disinformation campaigns, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has earlier said the social network would prioritize "trustworthy" news in its feed by identifying high-quality outlets.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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