I'm at the Facebook news tab event at the Paley Center.
Zuckerberg says that he and News Corp.'s Robert Thompson have been talking about "doing this" -- news -- for two or three years. Thompson: "I do have one question. What took you so long."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Zuckerberg says in response.
Zuckerberg says every internet platform needs to create partnerships to fund and support news.
Zuckerberg says FB is under constant pressure from users to show more from from friends and family, less "other stuff" (read: news). What has changed in recent years, he says, is that FB has figured out how to make tabs work, even if only 10-20% use them.
Zuckerberg: "This is going to be the first time that we're forming long-term, stable relationships and partnerships with publishers." Nailing the rug down so it can't be pulled is critical for publishers!
"Mark's had quite a week," says Thompson.
"This is by far the best thing," says Zuckerberg.
"This is by far the best thing," says Zuckerberg.
"I've been able to make the case persistently and puckishly because of the enduring support of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch," says Thompson of his long-time complaint about trying to get money from tech cos.
"Publishers and journalists ... need to be held to account for flawed strategies," says Thompson.
"Mark deserves genuine credit for this digital Damascene moment." Thompson says.
In short: Thompson et al can be bought.
"Some digital executives seem to think provenance is a province in the south of France," says Thompson, always with the ready quip about other platforms.
Thompson is strutting as if in a movie called The Revenge of the Gatekeepers.
Zuckerberg says the news tab could get to 20-30 million people over a few years. He is correct to hold down expectations.
Thompson puts Zuckerberg on the spot and asks whether FB can pay local papers. He touts the separate product they've been developing: Today In, a local tab. He says he hopes to have financial relations there. Then he touts FB's $300m commitment to news.
Oy. Thompson asks how much of an impression meeting Murdoch et al had on him. Will you please suck up to my boss?
Oy again. Breitbart will be include in the news tab. Won't be paid, says The Times, but articles Breitbart posts to FB will be eligible for inclusion. nytimes.com/2019/10/25/tec…
Publishers can run their own ads on their news tab content and keep the revenue or they can use FB's ad network and still get "the vast majority of the revenue."
"It's easier to spend money than make money ... except for you," says Thompson to Zuckerberg.
Thompson says a year into his work in newspapers as a copyboy he went on strike because of the introduction of computers. Too easy a straight line, even for me.
Thompson has twice used the forum to sing schadenfreude over the finances of his competitor, Quartz.
"For many years not, I've prohibited the teams ... from optimizing for time spent," Zuckerberg says.
When informed by @sarafischer that Bloomberg doesn't cover Bloomberg, Zuckerberg says "Interesting. I didn't know that was a thing a person could do." So the news tab will include coverage of Facebook.
"There are very strict guidelines on what it takes to be included as a publisher here," Zuckerberg says. Yet that includes Breitbart.
@sarafischer Asked about Breitbart, Zuckerberg says he isn't going to speak to a specific source. He says that in order to be a trusted source the tab needs diverse views. He says the standards are transparent. I asked FB and here's what they responded: 
