Facebook needs to come to grips with being in the news business
Facebook's role as a distributor of the news is well established. Now, it's becoming the place where news happens.
Margaret Sullivan, media columnist for the Washington Post, doesn't think the company is ready to take on that role.
"I think that Facebook really sees itself and talks about itself in this way that has nothing to do with news," Sullivan said in an interview with Mashable's Biz Please podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher.
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"I think increasingly and as Facebook Live has come on so strong...some decisions are kind of coming up that Facebook has to definitely make editorial-seeming decisions on," Sullivan said. "And they don't really want to talk about it in those terms."
In the past few weeks, Facebook's livestreaming feature has become a hot-button issue, particularly around the aftermath of a police shooting that was broadcast.
Other violent videos have emerged since.
And it's not just Facebook. Twitter has its own livestreaming tool and ambitions to become a bigger player in live video. The company has signed a series of deals to stream live events, including the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions.
Speaking of the conventions, Sullivan will be covering them on the ground. She and other Post reporters have been readying themselves for the unexpected, particularly after protests and violence at previous Donald Trump rallies.
"I think we're trying to be prepared for almost anything," Sullivan said. "It's going to be very, very challenging."
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
