Jimmy Wales may be the reason you survived college, or book club, or a date. Wikipedia, which he cofounded along with Larry Sanger and others, has more than 5 million articles, just in English. In a sense it dominates the internet in terms of information.
SEE ALSO:We tried to post fake news on Facebook, this is what happenedWales isn't done in fixing the internet. In the era of fake news and alternative facts, Wales is launching a new venture: WikiTribune. It's an online news site that will have articles reported and written by professional journalists. But in the flavor of Wikipedia, it will have volunteer researchers and fact-checkers as well as other community-focused aspects.
Wales stopped by Mashable HQ this week to speak with business editor Jason Abbruzzese and business reporter Kerry Flynn on what exactly the project is, why he created it and what we can expect from its future. We also learned that Wales really likes boats and boating magazines. Seriously.
WikiTribune isn't the first crack at a community-embracing news organizations, and others haven't fared that well. CNNonce upon a time had a citizen journalism venture called iReport. But Wales is confident in the future of a news site supported by volunteers, who will provide information and will donate money to fund the site.
Similar to Silicon Valley investor Jason Calacanis's Inside venture (who has also been a guest on BizPlease), Wales's WikiTribune is going to be focused on niche interests. Wales suggested boats (remember: he's a big fan) as well as bitcoin, two areas he believes are underserved with having good, dedicated reporters.
"The people who are monthly supporters are going to be able to tell us what beat they want us to cover. What's really interesting about that ... is about for every 500 subscribers for $15 a month, we can hire a journalist," Wales said.
The website is live now, where you can learn more about his thinking and become a subscriber.
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