Wikipedia founder plans news portal against fake news
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wants to take up the fight against fake news on the Internet with a new news platform called WikiTribune.
Following the principle of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the news is to be checked for facts by a community of employees and volunteers. WikiTribune like Wikipedia, is to manage without advertisements and instead be financed by donations.
The news business is broken, but it can be fixed, Wales said in a video recording. On the internet, funding via advertisements has primarily led to news being disseminated at any price for click rates - often without any fact-checking. In contrast, WikiTribune wants to make the facts of the news transparent.
At least ten journalists are to be hired initially for the launch. "There are quite a few people who would see this as a trustworthy platform if it's done properly," Joshua Benton from Harvard University told the BBC online portal. "But ten to 20 people won't be able to do it, 'fixing the news'."
"I think we're in a world today where people are concerned that we get quality, fact-based information," Wales told the BBC. "So I think there is a demand for something like this."
Among the first supporters are the author and entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki, the British model Lily Cole and the American journalist and net activist Jeff Jarvis. BBC also lists the American law professor Larry Lessig. (SDA)
