Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Sign up for Axios NW Arkansas
Stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting NW Arkansas, authored by local reporters
Noah Berger / AP
Facebook is starting to allow some English-language news Pages to register to join a new internal Facebook index that the tech giant will refer to when deciding which Pages to roll out global news products to.
Why it matters: Facebook says the process for building such an index is long overdue. A renewed urgency has been placed on rollout to ensure that sponsored posts from indexed news publishers are placed in a political ads archive created specifically for news organizations, and not general political advertisers.
What it takes: In order to be included in the index, a Page must meet the following requirements:
- They must abide by guidelines it has developed with news organizations, academics and industry groups, like focusing primarily on current events and information, citing sources, and including bylines and dates.
- Facebook says Pages that primarily publish ads or promotional content are not eligible, nor are Pages that have a record of publishing articles that have been rated false by the its third-party fact-checking partners.
How it works: Facebook anticipates that it will take several weeks to roll out the application process to all Pages. The company says it will reconvene with news organizations, academics, and industry groups to ensure the process for registration is as smooth as possible.
- The first use case for the index (which is for internal use only) will be determining which news organizations should be placed in the news archive.
- It's currently using industry lists to make that determination, but it says it knows industry lists "are not inclusive of all the news pages on Facebook" and its goal is to be as inclusive as possible.
The bottom line: Many people think of valid "news Pages" on Facebook as those belonging to mainstream news organizations. But Facebook considers any Page on its platform that is authentic and follows the aforementioned guidelines to be a "news Page." This means its definition of a "news Page" is far more comprehensive than what most people would think of when they consider what a news organization is.
Editor's note: Axios contributed ideas to the guidelines & participated in test of the product.