Keller @ Large: Facebook Playing Politics With News Feed?
BOSTON (CBS) - If you're reading this, chances are it's because you care about the news, and, we certainly hope, you choose us because you trust us to give you stories we find interesting, based not on political bias but on an honest assessment of what matters to you.
But allegedly, Facebook hasn't been doing that.
According to a report on Gizmodo:
"Facebook workers routinely suppressed news stories of interest to conservative readers from the social network's influential "trending" news section, according to a former journalist who worked on the project. This individual says that workers prevented stories about the right-wing CPAC gathering, Mitt Romney, Rand Paul, and other conservative topics from appearing in the highly-influential section, even though they were organically trending among the site's users."
Among the allegedly suppressed stories - the former IRS official accused of hassling conservative groups, the activities of conservative Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and stories about Chris Kyle, the former Navy seal who was the focus of the controversial hit movie "American Sniper."
Read: Facebook's Response
There have always been, and still are, editorial decisions behind the news you are exposed to.
Yes, you can tailor what news sources you want to see on Twitter, or have technology do it for you on Facebook based on the topics you show interest in, but others are still sorting it for you.
And more than ever, it's going to be up to you to demand that if they want your attention, these news sources better play it straight. That is, unless you want to be spoon-fed just one point of view.
