Facebook has become a go-to source for news among Americans, but a new survey reveals nearly half are unsure to whether the social media firm conducts is own reporting.
Pew Research Center found that six percent of those surveyed said Facebook ‘does its own reporting,’ while 42 percent marked ‘not sure.’
The group surveyed more than 2,000 Americans for this study, asking them which six different sources of news do original reporting.
Separate research from the German Marshal Fund Digital earlier this year found Facebook likes, comments and shares of articles from news outlets that commonly publish misleading content tripled from the third quarter of 2016 to the third quarter of 2020 – making the Pew Research Center’s results concerning.
Facebook has become a go-to source for news among Americans, but a new survey reveals nearly half are unsure to whether the social media firm conducts is own reporting. Pew Research Center found that six percent of those surveyed said Facebook ‘does its own reporting,’ while 42 percent marked ‘not sure’
Facebook is set to launch a new ‘Facebook News’ section on its platform that it says will deliver ‘content that is informative, reliable and relevant’ with the hopes of combating these issues.
However, as the new feature will drive more traffic to the site, ultimately increasing Facebook’s revenue, Australia and the UK may soon force the firm to pay publishers for using their content.
Google is also in the hot seat along with Facebook, which posts content to its Google News.
Both countries made announcements this week, saying the laws could go into effect over the next few days – Australia is set to introduce it today.
The move could force Facebook into adopting new protocols in how it disseminates news on its platform in certain countries.
US governments have not led on about such rules, although officials have criticized Facebook for its practices.
Separate research from the German Marshal Fund Digital found Facebook likes, comments and shares of articles from news outlets that commonly publish misleading content tripled from the third quarter of 2016 to the third quarter of 2020 – making the Pew Research Center’s results concerning
But the new Facebook News section may help nearly 50 percent of Americans determine what is original reporting from credible sources.
Pew Research surveyed 2,021 adults from June 2 to 11 this year, asking them whether siz sources of news do their own reporting.
The publishers including ABC News, The Wall Street Journal and HuffPost, along with online sources that only gather articles from elsewhere such as Facebook, Google News and Apple News.
The results show that half of Americans, on average, correctly identified the two out of the six sources that conduct their own reporting: ABC New (56 percent) and The Wall Street Journal (52 percent).
Facebook is set to be given laws by Australia and Britain, along with a mandatory fee, for using news content from publishers in their countries
However, only 23 percent of the respondents said HuffPost conducts original reporting – 62 percent state ‘not sure.’
Although 48 percent of those surveyed reported Facebook does its own reporting and that they are not sure, 51 percent were correct in answering they do not.
For Google News, 11 percent said it does its own reporting and only seven percent said Apple doesn’t.
For Google News, 11 percent said it does its own reporting and only seven percent said Apple doesn’t. However, Americans are more unaware if they do or don’t: 66 percent is not sure about Apple News and 57 percent are not sure about Google News
More Americans may be unaware about Apple’s and Google’s reporting, but Facebook relies on news articles to generate revenue, the New York Times reports.
Karen Kornbluh, director of GMF Digital, told the New York Times: ‘We have these sites that masquerade as news outlets online. They’re allowed to.’
‘It’s infecting our discourse and it’s affecting the long-term health of the democracy.’
