Facebook is testing a separate section of the app with local news and events in the US

Facebook has begun testing a separate section of the app for local news and events from pre-verified sources in six cities in the United States. The feature should launch in more cities later.

The function is called ‘Today In’, Recode reports. It’s not in the Facebook app’s timeline, but is a separate section that users can access by opening the options menu in the app. A list of local news and a calendar for events will then come up.

The American company is approaching local media to participate in the test. Those media cannot make money from the position for the time being, although they probably hope to get more traffic to their site because of Today In.

Users can see the function if they fill in themselves that they live in that place. The Facebook News Initiative pre-screens local media to ensure that only news from trusted sources appears in the list. The social network compiles the list with a mix of algorithms and human input.

Last year, Facebook developed more initiatives that could help journalism. For example, users can subscribe to media via Instant Articles and journalists can give their post a ‘breaking news’ label.