Wikipedia founder to battle fake news menace with 'Wikitribune'

With the intent of combating 'fake news' in the industry, the founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales has announced the launch of a news platform that will bring journalists together with a legion of fact-checkers - the "Wikitribune."

"We want to make sure that you read fact-based articles that have a real impact in both local and global events," the publication's website states.

The site will publish news stories written by professional journalists. But internet users will be able to propose factual corrections and additions, similar to Wikipedia. However, the changes will be reviewed by volunteer fact-checkers, reports CNN.

Announcing that it will be transparent about its sources, Wikitribune will post the full transcripts of interviews, as well as video and audio, "to the maximum extent possible."

The language used will be "factual and neutral." "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.

Wales further said that "Wikitribune" is designed to help counteract fake news spread on social media.

"[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. It fundamentally breaks the news," he added.

Interestingly, Wikipedia has been accused of hosting misleading or inaccurate information, as at 10 edits per second, the internet encyclopedia often finds it difficult to handle miscreants who purposefully make false claims.