News aggregation platform Media Sifter aims to decentralize the increasingly centralized mainstream news media.
Instead of changing the way publications with a perceived bias or agenda deliver news, Media Sifter adds crowd verification to the mix so readers can share their opinion of the accuracy of pieces. The blockchain provides a safe way to generate and deliver that accuracy, the company says.
“We exist to empower people to find their own truths in the world and redistribute influence through technology. Starting with the news.” said John Ferreira, founder of Media Sifter. “Providing a tool so that people can create and consume fact-checked news means giving the power of information back to them.”
Readers who contribute to the accuracy of news through investigation and contribution will receive unspecified rewards.
Mr. Ferreira, cofounder Rytis Jakubauskas and five others are working full-time on the concept.
“Media Sifter facilitates media literacy, allowing people to access, analyse, and take action on media information. It helps develop critical thinking, recognize biases and discover parts of the story which aren’t being told.” Mr. Ferreira said. “Combined with a free press and freedom of speech, these skills are the very foundation of an informed public, and in turn, a healthy democracy. In the digital age, the need for media literacy has never been more indispensable.”
Former Thomson Reuters executive Dan Solak, BBC News creative director Jacek Barcikowski, and investor and entrepreneur Marquise Stillwell serve on Media Sifter’s advisory board.
The company plans on being available to the public in October. Some community collaborators and curators have already joined.
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