Facebook is adding a news section to Watch

Facebook is creating a news section within it's video platform Watch to feature breaking news stories, the head of the company's journalism project, Campbell Brown, said at Recode's Code Media conference on Monday.

The move comes weeks after Facebook announced it would play down news in the News Feed and would use survey data from users to determine which publishers are trustworthy and deserve better ranking in the News Feed.

Facebook launched the Watch platform in August last year to directly compete with other video distribution platforms online such as YouTube and Snapchat.

The social media site previously only hosted videos that were being shared by people. With Watch, Facebook now has ownership of original content that it can distribute exclusively on its own service. And now, by adding a news focus, Facebook looks to try a new way for outlets to deliver news.

With Facebook spending huge bucks on securing original entertainment programming in recent months, Watch will push it closer to a balance between fun and informative material.