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With an abundance of misinformation being shared as news and a segment of the public not trusting mainstream media, Wikipedia co-founderJimmy Wales decidedtoget everyday people in on the reporting process.

Wales plans to launch a news website called Wikitribune, which would have professional journalists working alongside volunteers who proofread, fact-check and suggest changes.

"The quality of the media and the level of public trust in the media has really declined to a point where it's causing problems in society," he said Wednesday, during a speech in Chicago at the Morningstar Investment Conference at McCormick Place.

"There's been a lot of discussions about fake news obviously, (President Donald) Trump has used that (term)a lot," Wales said. "I'm not going to go in on the president's tweets, but there is an issue. We have to have good, quality media. It needs to be honest and it needs to be trusted by the public."

Wales made the comments Wednesdayin his first public speech since announcing the initiative Tuesday.

Wikitribune isn't affiliated with Wikipedia. The project isrelying on donors, rather than the ad-driven model he said has incentivizedsome news organizations to postclickbaiton their sites.

The model is still being worked out, he said, but the site would employ one reporter for every 500 donors who contribute $15 a month. As with Wikipedia, the site's content would be available toeveryone.

While the site is currently raising money just to start up operations, eventually Wikitribune will allow people to donate fora specific area to be covered.

"Local news is potentially where this can get very interesting," Wales said, noting many local news operations have seen their coverage of government diminished, as a smaller number of journalists are stretched to cover larger geographic areas.

"One of the functions of local journalism is to be that watchdog," he said. "In these small towns, there are going to be a lot of brother-in-laws of mayors who are doing very well with construction contracts, because nobody is really investigating."

People could also donate forspecific topicsto be covered, Wales said. For example, if enough donors wanted to fund reporting on Bitcoin, a journalist could be dedicated to that coverage.

Editorials and opinion pieces will not be a part of the platform initially, he said.

While many hybridcitizen journalism efforts haven't been successful, Wales said, some effort is needed to provide quality news from sources people trust.

Wales said he's been encouraged by a rise in digital-only subscriptions of the New York Times and a membership program that supports The Guardian newspaper. He believes there's a sense of group goodwill that comes withsupporting newspapers.

"A good quality general interest newspaper, when you pay for it, you pay because you want everybody to read it, so that they make better decisions voting, and understand all the pros and cons," he said. "It's really important that people are willing to do that, and its really important that people trust journalism."

Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer.Twitter@cherylvjackson

Link:
Wikipedia's co-founder joins fight against fake news with Wikitribune - Chicago Tribune