DHAKA: Facebook has launched FB Newswire, the company announced Thursday, which is a product of a partnership with News Corp-owned Storyful and which promises to offer journalists a repository of verified, real-time content for use in covering breaking news stories.

 Storyful’s entire raison d’etre was to verify news sources from social sites including FB, Twitter and Instagram, and the FB Newsroom version of its tech continues that mission, with the aim of making Facebook a more useful resource for journalists and news publications.

FB Newswire will collect “newsworthy content” that Facebook users share publicly via their accounts, including media like photos and videos, as well as status updates from users on the ground where news is breaking. It’s a good idea, as Facebook is looking to position itself more as a source for timely public information, along the lines of what Twitter has managed to become organically, reports the TechCrunch.com.

Those interested in seeing what FB Newswire brings to the table can follow along for content on Facebook itself, or just check out the @FBNewswire Twitter account, which is a somewhat ironic destination considering Facebook’s apparent goal in launching this partnership.

The advantage here (vs. just using Twitter more generally) is that because of the Storyful partnership, content found in the FB Newswire feed will supposedly already be vetted and verified, so media organizations can feel comfortable using it in their live reporting.

BDST:1002 HRS, APR 25, 2014