Journalism has been struggling to find its way in the digital news era. Over the past 25 years, weekday print circulations have been nearly cut in half, and advertising revenue has decreased even more, according to recent research from the Pew Research Center. In an age when readers want fast and free content, print and online publishers are scrambling for new ways to find money.

Blockchain, which is being used for everything from energy trading to fraud protection, may also hold interesting potential in the news industry, according to experts in tech and media.

Why blockchain?

This decentralized ledger system can track, tag and reward actions using a verifiable, inexpensive process that provides trusted checks-and-balances. The same platform structure can potentially help distribute content, pay journalists and do other things.

Several experiments have already cropped up with the potential to shape the future of journalism. Civil has received a lot of press for building a platform that plans to fund newsrooms with cryptocurrencies. The startup has signed impressive partners, including the Associated Press and Forbes.

Using a decentralized, blockchain-based protocol, Civil hopes to make it easier for publishers to license and monetize their content as well as track down when articles are used without permission. The goal is to fight fake news and create an ad-free economy where journalists distribute content directly to readers. In this ecosystem, the community plays a vital role, having the ability to stop a content provider from being on the platform if it violates journalism ethics.