Wikipedia founder to combat fake news

JIMMY WALES SAID HE WILL BE 100% HANDSON WITH THE PROJECT AND WILL LIKELY SERVE AS WIKITRIBUNE’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE FOR A YEAR

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is planning a free online news service called Wikitribune in what he says is an effort to combat fake news.

The news service, Wales says, will combine the work of professional journalists and volunteers. The service is intended to be both ad-free and free-to-read, and will rely on supporters for donations.

Wikitribune will use some Wikipedia features such as the need for writers to detail the source of each fact and the reliance on readers to edit articles to keep them accurate and updated. However, changes to articles on Wikitribune will reflect only after a staff or a trusted community volunteer approves it. The other difference is that the core team of writers will be paid, although there may be instances in which a volunteer writes the initial draft and then a staff member edits it. Wales said he believes that the advertising-based model used by most media has led to click-chases, which has affected information standards.

“I think we’re in a world right now where people are very concerned about making sure we have high quality fact-based information, so I think there will be demand for this,” Wales was quoted as saying by BBC.

Experts have said that 20 staff members may not be enought to fix news. HTC