Old journalism is dying, but a technology has arrived that can save it. The blockchain brings decentralization and a fairer remuneration for authors.
Due to the technological disruption of social networks, the world of journalism has experienced a considerable loss of information quality and credibility. The sources of income have also changed, and the media have not yet found the formula to survive. However, blockchain technology promises to provide the solution.
Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin and the vast majority of cryptocurrencies, is a distributed consensus system for verifiably and permanently recording transactions.
The future of journalism will be written on the blockchain.
A new journalism
Faced with the advertising concentration of the centralized giants (Facebook and Google account for 80% of online advertising), blockchain will combat fake news, guarantee freedom of speech or make it easier for readers to make micropayments that are transferred directly to the journalist's wallet, without censorship or intermediaries.
The new business models of the future will be totally digital: the media will be able to hire journalists from all over the world and pay them in cryptocurrencies, creating totally digital news agencies.
"The newspaper of the future will not have a permanent staff of journalists, editors and proofreaders, but rather will have an internal market of 'events to be covered', 'jobs to be edited' and 'publications to be verified' that will be taken by journalists available at the moment, previously qualified and whose reputation will be based on the quality of their work (all this framed in a smart contract in charge of some representative of the newspaper's editorial line); and an external market, in which journalists will voluntarily put up for sale contents of their authorship that will be auctioned in order to be acquired by the medium that most wants them".
Héctor Cárdenas, founder of Criptonoticias.
New media in the blockchain
In that sense, the future has already begun. The Steemit platform, created in 2016, functions as a social network combining content creation, user interaction and the use of a cryptocurrency called Steem. Each user creates, shares and consumes content while receiving profits for it.
At PUBLIQ, authors receive between 97% and 99.5% of advertising revenue, while the rest goes to support distributed content storage. The platform began operating at the end of 2018 and is based on blockchain, artificial intelligence and data analysis.
In addition, Civil tries to disintermediate journalism, reinventing its business model and providing incentives for ethical behavior. Civil defines itself as a decentralized communications protocol for journalists and citizens. An ecosystem that promises sustainable journalistic activity.
Another example of the application of blockchain to journalism is the Dutch portal Publicism, a project to promote independent journalism that circumvents censorship. DNN (Decentralized News Network) also broadcasts news through the blockchain, guaranteeing the truthfulness, transparency and freedom of speech for its editors.
Advantages of blockchain for journalism
On the one hand, blockchain provides security to the content, guaranteeing greater transparency for the media and its readers, who can directly support journalists. In addition, technology circumvents censorship in countries where governments silence certain information.
On the other hand, blockchain allows to solve the traceability of the information, guaranteeing that the author's rights are fulfilled and knowing to whom each content belongs. The freedom of speech and the safety of professionals are also guaranteed, making it easier to control the reliability and quality of information and respecting intellectual property.
Finally, in the absence of a central authority to approve and regulate transactions, the manipulation of records is prevented, guaranteeing the quality of published data.
Use cases
- Funding of journalistic projects and the work of journalists.
- Micropayments for reading articles through blockchain.
- News platforms on the blockchain.
- Decentralized editorial structures.
- A newspaper library that is immutable and enduring in time.
- Advertising and remuneration through smart contracts.