NY Times: "All the News That Mark Zuckerberg Sees Fit To Print"?

theodp writes Two years ago, Politico caught Mark Zuckerberg's soon-to-be launched FWD.us PAC boasting how its wealthy tech exec backers would use their companies to 'control the avenues of distribution' for a political message in support of their efforts. Now, the NY Times is reporting that Facebook has been quietly holding talks with at least half a dozen media companies about hosting their content inside Facebook, citing a source who said the Times and Facebook are moving closer to a firm deal. Facebook declined to comment on specific discussions with publishers, but noted it had provided features to help publishers get better traction on Facebook, including tools unveiled in December that let them target their articles to specific groups of Facebook users. The new plan, notes the Times, is championed by Chris Cox, the top lieutenant to Facebook CEO Zuckerberg and a "major supporter" of FWD.us. Exploring Facebook's wooing of the media giants, the Christian Science Monitor asks if social media will control the future of news, citing concerns expressed by Fusion's Felix Salmon, who warns that as news sites sacrifice their brands to reach a wider audience, their incentives for accuracy and editorial judgment will disappear.

Comments

New boss - same as the old boss

[rleesBSD]

There was a brief moment in time (sorry Stephen) when I thought the internet would break up the gate keepers. That moment has passed.

Re:Who TF is still on Facebook?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anecdotes aren't data. FB has 1.3 billion *active* users. That is, users who use the site at least once a month. FB also has 775 million daily users. So thanks for your pointless post.

Re:LOL @ last part

[ralphsiegler]

Have you seen U.S. "news" sites today, they're 75 percent sentimental slop human interest stories. Really not much different than the tabloid trash rag rack at the supermarket checkout. Pandering to morons is profitable