Why we decided blockchain was the answer for DNN, and for truth

Image via ComputerWorldUK

In anticipation of today’s AMA, we shared our white paper in draft form to Reddit’s /r/ethereum community, asking for direct feedback and commentary. Why? Because we truly believe in the power of a democratic, decentralized community where the conversation will never be just one-way.

Our mission for DNN is to create political news content that is both empowering for its readers, as well as representative of the integrity of its writers. We aspire for DNN to become the most-trusted and democratic political news alternative to the mainstream media.

In our white paper we’ve laid out how our platform functions, from token and compensation model to the various roles the community will play in ensuring unbiased reporting and how those relationships work based on platform reputation and engagement. Here we want to answer why the Ethereum blockchain is the future of fact-based political news.

What is Ethereum?

Launched in 2015, Ethereum is a public, open-source custom-built blockchain. Unlike other blockchains, and the most commonly known Bitcoin blockchain, Ethereum’s decentralized platform runs smart contracts, applications that autonomously enforce digital agreements of performance or monetary exchange.

Why is the Ethereum blockchain significant to an open, yet secure news platform?

DNN will harness the power of the Ethereum blockchain to create an infrastructure that is virtually impossible to infiltrate or take down. Since DNN is not centralized, it does not have a potential single point of failure. The platform’s core purpose is to present political news as accurately as possible, free of any corrupt incentives or hidden agendas, which plagues most news corporations.

DNN will harness the power of the Ethereum blockchain to create an infrastructure that is virtually impossible to infiltrate or take down.

How is blockchain technology disrupting traditional news?

A blockchain-based news media platform such as DNN’s has the ability to democratize traditional news media for several reasons.

Since the blockchain contains data in time-stamped blocks that chain together, being continuously added and archived, it becomes nearly impossible for outsiders to manipulate existing data or information within the distributed ledger.

Next, the blockchain decentralizes the authority to publish content. There is no single source that controls the message or content of published works, which is something that is all too commonly witnessed with traditional media. DNN is not tethered to any special interests or political agendas, nor is it vying for a substantial chunk of ad revenue, which puts it in a category separate from most publications which can be tied down or hindered from acting fully and wholly impartial in lieu of corporate connections made necessary by the revenue model for today’s news media.

DNN isn’t tethered to any special interests or political agendas, nor is it vying for a substantial chunk of ad revenue.

Lastly, the blockchain’s core value rests on trust. The technology achieves a state of implicit trust, thereby securing a system where users don’t need to know one another or be associated with a third-party intermediary to verify or confirm a transaction. It is implicit and autonomous — the blockchain is the gatekeeper and enabler of all users’ incentives on DNN.

Transparency in community

The core purpose of DNN is to provide truly factual news that is curated and community-moderated. Each piece of news published on the DNN will have been validated by a delegated group of reviewers to ensure that no published work contains blatantly untrue or inaccurate information. Each user acts independently and with the incentive to act in their own best interest.

The core purpose of DNN is to provide truly factual news that is curated and community-moderated.

Innovative compensation system, powered by smart contracts

The Decentralized News Network will introduce a compensation model built on incentives and made possible by the Ethereum blockchain. DNN removes the need for advertisers because the platform will not source revenue from display ads. DNN will run as a network, fueled by the DNN token.

Each action, which includes the writing and reviewing of an article, will be made possible by these tokens and linked to the Ethereum network. DNN’s system works to incentivize writers and reviewers in a self-sustaining and autonomous environment that leaves no room for corporate bias.

Compensation is derived from the community’s engagement rather than external revenue streams such as native ads and reader subscriptions. In turn, there is no opportunity for corporate interjection, whether it is through sponsored content or elsewhere.

Furthermore, with the blockchain providing the foundation for the platform, DNN can transparently display how money is made and transacted behind the scenes, and for what reasons and to which parties tokens are distributed to. Ideally, the platform can create a new kind of transparency, dictated by a truly open and user-controlled environment for information sharing and consumption. By uploading the contents of published articles to a decentralized file datastore, and making references to these articles directly in Ethereum smart contracts, we can ensure that every article is as immutable and everlasting as the Ethereum network.

DNN writer and reviewer compensation is derived from the community’s engagement rather than external revenue streams such as native ads and reader subscriptions — in turn, there is no opportunity for corporate interjection.

Our mission for DNN is to create political news content that is both empowering for its readers, as well as representative of the integrity of its writers. We aspire for DNN to become the most-trusted and democratic political news alternative to the mainstream media.

Ask us anything today, March 10th, here, and join the DNN community conversation on slack.