After Facebook unveiled today a slate of seven news-centric series that will be distributed across its Watch platform, YouTube is also reportedly looking to amp up its news offer — despite the fact that both platforms have been widely denounced for serving as hubs of fake news and conspiracy theories.
YouTube is currently interviewing seasoned journalists to head up a forthcoming news initiative, reports Digiday, citing three anonymous publishing sources. It is unclear whether YouTube plans to create exclusive shows with buzzy publishing partners — like Facebook has done with CNN and Anderson Cooper, for instance — or if it is simply seeking new ways to promote videos from reputable outlets.
In the past, YouTube has turned a spotlight on reputable publishers in order to prevent the spread of misinformation. Though the company is far from immune to it: in February, for instance, a conspiracy video involving a high school shooting victim ascended to the top of the ‘Trending‘ tab. To this end, YouTube added a ‘Top News’ section in March that appears within search results to guide viewers toward verified videos and channels, including The Washington Post and The Financial Times. This follows a ‘Breaking News‘ carousel that provides a similar service on the homepage, which it rolled out last year.
In March, YouTube also vowed to incorporate clarifying information from Wikipedia on videos about conspiracy theories — a move that the online encyclopedia said it wasn’t warned about prior to the integration.
“Over the years, both Google and YouTube have invested to support our news partners and help them in their efforts to build sustainable businesses on and off of YouTube,” YouTube told Digiday in a statement. “Our efforts have been and remain focused on the long-term success of our partners not in short-term funding for exclusive content.”
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