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Describing Wikitribune as “news by the people and for the people,” Wales said: “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 rechecking all facts.” Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Starts Wikitribune to Help Fight Fake News [theguardian.com]
When Henry Kissinger received the Nobel Peace Prize against the backdrop of the US Air Force's secret bombings in Cambodia, the satirist Tom Lehrer declared that satire had become obsolete. If satire died that day, then Jimmy Wales has dug it up, exhumed the corpse, and is giving it a state funeral.
The Wikipedia co-founder has announced a Global News Police Force: new “community driven” global journalism project called Wikitribune, which he says is needed to combat “Fake News” by pronouncing on the accuracy of other people’s news stories. Although the site is apparently live, in the spirit of not-quite-total transparency, you’re not allowed to see it yet; the news was leaked to Jimbo-friendly media including WiReD, the BBC and the Financial Times.
It's both a rival to professional news organisations, and, as Wales admits, a gatekeeper. The site will employ professional journalists, and armchair fact-checkers, to create the real truth.
So what could possible go wrong?
