In a story that sounds, on the surface, like the owner of the biggest marsh bog in the area starting his own mosquito extermination company, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has pledged to start a new journalism web site devoted to defeating fake news. Wales’ “Wikitribune” will mix actual reporting with the same crowd-sourcing formula that’s made his name synonymous with “overly detailed Naruto synopses and angry arguments about the notability of local DJs“ for more than a decade.
According to CNN—whose reporters did not seem to enjoy Wales’ implications that they’re not already fact-checking themselves—the site would combine standard reporting with the wisdom of the commenters, who could propose additions, deletions, or corrections for the articles. These would be a filtered by a team of volunteer fact-checkers of apparently iron will and determination, and who would hopefully be compensated with a mixture of therapy and powerful pharmaceuticals for their work.
Critics of Wales’ plan questioned whether a single site could turn the tide of fake news on influential social networks like Facebook, where there are as many dissenting voices as there are uncles and aunts with strong opinions and #MAGA hats. Still, it’s not like there’s not inherent merits in letting the readers of news stories participate more fully in how their media is presented, or in CANCERAIDS IT CAN BE TWO THINGS OF COCK.