Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has joined the fight against fake news circulating online. He is planning to launch a website named Wikitribune. Wales has decided to get the people involved in the reporting process.
The website will have journalists working along with volunteers who proofread articles and do a fact check.
During a speech in Chicago at the Morningstar Investment Conference at McCormick Place, he said, “The quality of the media and the level of public trust in the media has really declined to a point where it’s causing problems in society.”
He also said that good media needs to come back into the picture in order to make the people regain their trust. And trust in the media is essential for a positive societal growth.
He said that the project will rely on donations rather than be ad-driven. This decision has also been made in the interest of reducing misleads from the internet.
The website, Wikitribune will not have any affiliation to Wikipedia.
He also said that at a later stage the website will hire one reporter for every 500 people who contribute $15 per month in an area. The content, of course, will be made available to everyone. People can also donate specifically for a particular area of news to be covered. For example, is a user wants to read about politics in their area, then they can donate specifically for that. If enough money is raised for it, then a reporter will be assigned to report on politics in that area.
Currently, the website is still raising funds to start operation.
Such an innovative model has the potential to be a huge success in this internet era. A reliable source of information is rare to find and Wales may just have opened the door to it.
