Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

Facebook lets journalists livestream direct to your News Feed

There are countless social media platforms vying for the attention of digital-age journalists.

To that end, Facebook has just unveiled its latest ploy – Facebook Mentions and Live for users with verified profiles.

That means that verified journalists can now use the Facebook Mentions app to stream live footage to Facebook during breaking news events.

Previously, Mentions was only available to a select number of celebrities, but it’s now been opened up to reporters, experts, and “influencers”.

People love reading articles from and connecting with their favourite journalists and public figures on Facebook,” explains Vadim Lavrusik, Product Manager for Facebook Mentions.

Lavrusik continues: “Today, we’re making Facebook Mentions and Live available to public figures with verified profiles to help them engage their followers and interact with their peers.”

Journalists will be able to report from the scene, host Q&A sessions, and connect to their followers or friends.

The broadcast footage will show up in the News Feed of users.

Reporters will also be out to check out what users are saying about them, as well as topics that they follow.

If you’re a journalist, you can apply for a verified profile – signalled by a blue tick – using this online form.

Related: Best Web Browser 2015

Using alternative ways of getting news to the public is a growing trend in the journalism industry.

More and more news firms are employing services like Snapchat and Periscope to get breaking news to their audiences quickly and cheaply.

Would you like to see livestreams from journalists in your Facebook News Feed? Let us know in the comments.

Check out our smartphone group test video below:

Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

author icon

Editorial independence

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

author icon

Professional conduct

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

Trusted Reviews Logo

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the best of Trusted Reviews delivered right to your inbox.

This is a test error message with some extra words