The Associated Press (AP) has announced a partnership with Civil Media Company to develop a blockchain solution for tracking content-flow. The deal will leverage blockchain technology to help enforce licensing rights. The two part deal will also enable AP to license its content to the Civil network’s 14 newsrooms.
Civil Media is a blockchain startup that works towards enabling a network of high-quality news outlets through sale of cryptocurrency. The company provides a platform that enables a peer-to-peer exchange of content between journalists who are mutually supporting. According to reports, Civil Media Company is planning to go public next month.
Ethical journalism
The initial coin offering (ICO) will happen on September 18. Through the offering, Civil hopes to promote ethical and high quality journalism. The company will offer the tokens to newsrooms that uphold these values. According to the Civil team, the move aims at maintaining a high bar of ethical journalism in an age of “fake news”.
The AP is an international media house that has its headquarters in New York. The organization is not-for-profit and it operates independently. The news cooperative has a presence in over 100 countries. The organization will get Civil tokens when the blockchain startup goes public in September.
Fighting content piracy and fake news
Mathew Iles, CEO and founder of Civil Media Company, believes that the partnership is a score for publishers and creators. He emphasizes that the blockchain design will give the publishers and creators control over their content. For once, their content will not appear anywhere else without their permission. This way, the companies will fight content piracy and substantially cut down revenue loss.
Iles said, “People who are creating content aren’t in control of it in any way. What this all boils up to is content creators to be able to get credit for work wherever it’s published and more efficiently track the chain of value and ensure people are getting name credit and compensation.”
On its part, AP aims at acquiring new customers for its content. The organization recognizes that it is not easy to track licensed content on the internet. Therefore, the partnership will help against “cut and paste” that is pervasive today.