SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook and the publishing industry have long been frenemies: Occasionally they teamed up, but mostly they competed.
Now the two sides have formed an uneasy truce.
Facebook on Friday unveiled Facebook News, its latest foray into digital publishing. The product is a new section of the social network’s mobile app that is dedicated entirely to news content, which the company is betting will bring users back to the site regularly to consume news on sports, entertainment, politics and tech.
Facebook News will offer stories from a mix of publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, as well as digital-only outlets like BuzzFeed and Business Insider. Some stories will be chosen by a team of professional journalists, while others will be tailored to readers’ interests over time using Facebook’s machine-learning technology.
“We feel acute responsibility because there’s obviously an awareness that the internet has disrupted the news industry business model... We’ve figured out a different way to do this that we think is going to be better and more sustainable.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said in an interview.
Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged the tension between Facebook and publishers, and he said past experiences informed his current approach.
“It’s not a one-time thing,” he said of the new partnerships with publishers. “That’s why the deals we are structuring are long-term commitments, not two months, not one year, but multiple years.”
Written by Mike Isaac and Marc Tracy
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