Facebook makes ex-New York Times executive news chief
A former New York Times executive is to lead Facebook's fight against fake news and collaboration with media companies. Alex Hardiman has been promoted to the newly created job of news product manager.
At The New York Times, she was responsible for the newspaper's smartphone app, among other things, until moving to Facebook last year. Facebook was looking for someone with experience in both the media industry and technology for the new position, according to previous reports.
The world's largest online network had recently significantly stepped up the fight against the spread of fake news, with the help of media companies, among others. For example, users are shown warnings when sharing articles whose truthfulness has been classified as doubtful. In addition, Facebook wants to abolish the financial incentives for so-called "fake news" by no longer being able to earn money with it via ads. The online network had been sharply criticized for allowing fake news to spread seemingly unhindered on the platform during the US presidential election campaign.
Hardiman will have to address other problems in the relationship between Facebook and the media besides fake news. For example, there have been recent reports that interest in the "Instant Articles" format, which allows media outlets to publish their content on Facebook particularly quickly, is waning in the face of meager advertising revenue. (SDA)
Really excited to share that I'm returning to my media roots to lead News Products at Facebook: https://t.co/c8H5VGGedU
- Alex Hardiman (@alex_hardiman) May 1, 2017
Photo: Wan-ifra.org
