Forbes has joined blockchain-based journalism network, Civil. It is the first major media brand to begin experimenting with publishing content to the venture’s platform.

“We are relentlessly focused on rapid experimentation and implementation so that we can determine what’s in the best interest of our audience and what is next for our industry,” says Salah Zalatimo, Senior Vice President of Product & Technology at Forbes.

“Forbes and Civil believe passionately in the mission of journalism, and together we can provide audiences with a level of unprecedented transparency around our content. We’ll also be able to expand the reach of our writers and identify new revenue channels over time.”

Sustainable journalism

“Civil’s mission is to power sustainable journalism throughout the world, and Forbes’ commitment to regularly publish content on our platform is a major milestone for our approach,” comments Matthew Iles, CEO at Civil. “We look forward to working with Forbes as we connect with a broader audience interested in new, more direct ways to discover, share and support ethical journalism.”

Under the agreement, Forbes in the first quarter of next year will begin to publish metadata from select articles to the blockchain via Civil, where the information will be permanently archived and cannot be altered by any third-party. If all goes well with the experiment, Forbes may begin committing metadata from all of its articles to Civil’s decentralised network at some point later next year.

Publishing the metadata will indelibly establish the author’s identity and credibility, as well as the expert nature of participating sources. A Civil ‘badge’ will appear next to articles on Forbes.com signaling that the content has been inscribed into the blockchain and is published in accordance with Civil’s journalistic values, as detailed in the Civil Constitution. The act of publishing Forbes metadata on Civil also serves as the starting point for potential licensing and syndication technologies.

Civil’s blockchain publishing tools will be integrated into Forbes’ content management system (CMS), known as ‘Bertie.’  In addition, the latter will have a presence on the Civil Registry, the community-curated whitelist of newsrooms that run on the Civil protocol. Forbes’ stable of editors and reporters who cover the crypto beat will be able to interact directly with Civil members.