Wales is doing his part to combat fake news

Apr 25, 2017 00:47 GMT  ·  By

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia co-founder, steps up the fight against fake news, announces a news service combining the work of professional journalists and volunteers. 

Wikitribune, as the service will be called, will offer factual and neutral articles that help combat the problem that has been plaguing the world for the past few years, escalating during the American election season.

Much like Wikipedia, the service will be free to read and also free of ads, which means it will rely on donations from supporters. Wikitribune has great potential to become a great tool the world can rely on, but it may not be so easy to get people to trust it, especially those that are prone to believing fake news.

Writers will have to detail the source of each fact, and there will be a reliance on the public to edit articles in order to keep them accurate, much like it happens on Wikipedia. However, the changes will only go live if they are accepted by a staff member or a trusted community volunteer, so those who don't mean well will be kept away from altering articles.

"In most news sites, the community tends to hang at the bottom of articles in comments that serve little purpose. We believe the community can play a more important role in news. Wikitribune puts community at the top, literally. Articles are authored, fact-checked, and verified by professional journalists and community members working side by side as equals, and supported not primarily by advertisers, but by readers who care about good journalism enough to become monthly supporters," the site reads.

Crowdfunded journalism

The money the site will raise will go into paying the salaries of the ten journalists they are looking to hire. If the goal sum isn't reached, the funds will be refunded, they say.

“Wikitribune is news by the people and for the people. This will be the first time that professional journalists and citizen journalists will work side-by-side as equals writing stories as they happen, editing them live as they develop and at all times backed by a community checking and re-checking all facts," said Wales.

In the past few months, many companies have taken steps to fight against fake news, including Facebook and Google.