The cofounder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, has a rather unconventional plan to stamp out the current scourge of the Internet, fake news. Taking inspiration from his world-changing online encyclopedia, he wants to reinvent the way that news is made.
Wales imagines a future where a civic-minded community of voluntary workers can help create news in such a way that reporters have nowhere to hide. The resulting product, which will be called Wikitribune, will be a totally free online news service that tirelessly provides links to sources and data, with legions of committed helpers keeping it on the straight and narrow path of accuracy.
To that end, Wales plans to hire a small team of professional journalists who are paid via donations from supporters based on a crowdfunding model.
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