A news blockchain could play a key role in rewarding ‘diligent’ journalists for writing good news and punishing those who spread fake news. The news blockchain could be used for all kinds of news stories to democratize information dissemination and end dubious news sources, said Todd Kandaris
“It is essential that serious journalists always practice due diligence in their search for facts and reportage. However, reporters only get rewarded for the news they publish. A news blockchain could ensure that reporters can also get rewarded if they waste their time chasing a false story from some bad source and avoid publishing it,” Kandaris said.
The blockchain can create an information ecosystem for the news industry and give financial rewards to those who post correct and presumably verifiable news while punishing those who write or spread fake news.
How it works
The news blockchain Kandaris envisions works when a person enters a news story in the ecosystem, but another party has to put a bond attached to that story in the form of virtual currency or digital certificates, or anything with value. The person attaching the bond becomes the investor of that particular story and conducts due diligence to correct the factual accuracy of said news.
An attached bond to the news story is logged in the blockchain and entered into the digital contract, the company explained.
The news outlet that owns the copyright of the original news also earns money. Readers of the article can add information to the news story provided they have an investor for the added detail. However, if it is proven that the article is fake news, the bond is forfeited, and the copyright money is given to the news organization (the copyright money is held for some time).
The bond can also be used to pay “fake news headhunters” whose “mission” is to search for fake news and correcting them.
Eventually, the majority of the readers in the blockchain ecosystem will decide if the news story is fake or not after hearing both sides.
Fake news problems
The advancement in digital technology, as well as the rise in social media usage, are being pointed as the reason for the growth in the fake news because they provide the means for commenting, uploading, sharing, and liking. All these functionalities “have created an almost ideal environment for manipulation and abuse” and “threatens any sense of shared truth, said the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.