Wikitribune

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Rikkitic

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#220119 26-Jul-2017 23:22

Has anyone heard of Wikitribune? What do you think of it? I just learned about it from CNN, of all places. One of the people behind Wikipedia and some others are forming a news site devoted to publishing unbiased fact-based news stories. They say the site will be free, without ads, voluntarily supported by readers. All stories will be backed with evidence and verifiable sources and will be presented in a neutral manner, with no agenda and no left or right-wing slant.

I don't know if they can make this work or not, but I like the idea and I am planning on supporting them, at least initially. I wonder what others think of this.

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Lizard1977

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#1831918 27-Jul-2017 01:58

I seem to recall reading an announcement about this at the start of the year but hadn't heard anything since about when it was going "live". I think it's an admirable idea but anyone who claims to be completely "unbiased" is delusional. We all have our biases, often unconscious. I think they can aim to be non-partisan, which would be a nice change from the increasingly partisan news outlets, but they will always have some degree of bias, whether they are aware of it or not.

I'm also a little skeptical of their claim to present fact-based stories. While I'd certainly hope that every journalist is relying on facts to back up their stories, it's becoming increasingly common to see the word "fact" used in a very fluid sense. Even "evidence" takes on slippery meanings for some people. I think te environment they will be operating in will be an extremely challenging one, and the first obstacle to overcome is to establish credibility so that the "facts" are seen as fact, not opinions dressed as fact. Sadly, I suspect some people will point to the Wikipedia connection and use that to undermine the credibility.

SaltyNZ

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#1831929 27-Jul-2017 06:53

Lizard1977: it's becoming increasingly common to see the word "fact" used in a very fluid sense.

It's simply an alternative use of the word "fact".

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MikeAqua

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#1832009 27-Jul-2017 08:49

I think a lot of people are confusing facts with estimates and opinions.

Mike

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#1832016 27-Jul-2017 09:00

MikeAqua:

I think a lot of people are confusing facts with estimates and opinions.

Now thats a fact.

Fake news has become a huge problem and its gotten to the point that nowadays we don't really know what to believe. Perhaps, we need more rules for journalists who are suppose to be reporting accurate news. As soon as a news site starts to mix its news content with opinion pieces, it looses credibility. (look at stuff.co.nz).

Its hard to distinguish the opinion pieces from news. The trend is for a lot of people to pickup the opinion pieces, and quote them on Facebook/twitter believing them to be factual. Meantime many are just written by some keyboard warrior with an axe to grind.

Fred99

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#1832037 27-Jul-2017 09:30

Many people apparently don't want "neutral" fact-checked news. They want news that affirms their own biased world-view - and they want to be entertained.

Fact-checking cannot eliminate bias - it can only identify lies.

MikeB4

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#1832068 27-Jul-2017 09:40

Fred99:

Many people apparently don't want "neutral" fact-checked news. They want news that affirms their own biased world-view - and they want to be entertained.

Fact-checking cannot eliminate bias - it can only identify lies.

what let facts interfere with good story, shame on you Sir

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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Rikkitic

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#1832101 27-Jul-2017 10:54

Of course something like this can never be truly unbiased and of course opinion will always creep in to some extent, but I for one welcome the attempt, especially when I look at the current situation. As with everyone, there are media I feel comfortable with and media I can't stand, but I never feel I can be certain with any of them that what I am seeing is actually a reasonably objective report of what happened, or coloured in some way, whether intentionally or not, to feed some agenda and manipulate my emotional response. I like to think I am fairly good at reading between the lines and detecting obvious BS, but it would be nice to just have some confidence that the provider is doing their best to keep it honest. The BBC used to have a reputation for that. Now I'm not so certain.

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Lizard1977

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#1832238 27-Jul-2017 13:35

SaltyNZ:

Lizard1977: it's becoming increasingly common to see the word "fact" used in a very fluid sense.

It's simply an alternative use of the word "fact".

You have no idea how hard I tried to avoid using the awful oxymoron "alternative facts"!

SaltyNZ

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#1832244 27-Jul-2017 13:42

Lizard1977:

SaltyNZ:

Lizard1977: it's becoming increasingly common to see the word "fact" used in a very fluid sense.

It's simply an alternative use of the word "fact".

You have no idea how hard I tried to avoid using the awful oxymoron "alternative facts"!

I did too, honestly ... but it was so low hanging it was practically a potato.

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gzt

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#1832267 27-Jul-2017 14:09

This is the main part:

They are aiming for transparency on that part. If basic facts are incorrect or significantly overstated then readers/contributors are able to consider or correct that.

MikeAqua

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#1832321 27-Jul-2017 15:15

Sometimes facts are correct but selectively chosen.

Count the crowd at rugby game 10 minutes after the gates open vs just before kick off. Both are accurate numbers, only one is an accurate reflection of attendance.

Mike