The founder of Wikipedia is starting a website he says will fight so-called fake news.
Jimmy Wales says his Wikitribune site will bring journalists and volunteer fact checkers together to stop the spread of false news stories.
“We want to make sure that you read fact-based articles that have a real impact in both local and global events,” according to the group’s website.
The volunteer fact checkers’ role will be similar to how editors work on Wikipedia. Any changes will be reviewed by other fact checkers.
The site will also carry stories by professional journalists.
Unlike most news sites, Wikitribune says it will post full transcripts of interviews “to the maximum extent possible.”
“It takes professional, standards-based journalism, and incorporates the radical idea from the world of wiki that a community of volunteers can and will reliably protect the integrity of information,” said Wales, according to CNN.
Money to fund the site will come from contributions as opposed to advertisements or subscriptions.
“[Fake news] is literally designed to show us what we want to see, to confirm our biases, and to keep us clicking at all cost,” Wales said. “It fundamentally breaks the news.”
Some experts as skeptical, saying the site may only appeal to journalists and people who read a lot of news.
“I wonder whether it will be able to scale up to make a significant impact on the information sphere, especially on social networks such as Facebook where the main problems of fake news and misinformation occur,” saidCharlie Beckett, a professor at the London School of Economics, in an interview with CNN.
Wales’ Wikipedia has long battled criticism that it contains misleading or false information.