A Q&A with Vivian Schiller, CEO of the Civil Foundation
For those wondering how the much-ballyhooed blockchain economy might help to bolster funding for nonfiction media, the launch of Civil is a proof-of-concept moment. This first-of-its-kind network of news organizations just opened the sale of CVL tokens—a digital coin that supporters can buy to either donate to participating newsrooms or play a role in deciding how the network itself should evolve. For an entertaining take on how the project has come about, check out the nail-biting Zig Zag podcast, which features Manoush Zamarodi and Jen Poyant, who quit their stable jobs at public radio station WNYC to take a risk on joining the Civil experiment.
The tokens are available until October 15, when the sale will close. Big questions remain about how well it will do, and whether decentralized investment will help to shield the newsrooms against undue influence. To learn more about what this all means, I spoke with Vivian Schiller, the CEO of the newly established Civil Foundation, and the head of the Civil Counsel.
Vivian
SchillerWhat is Civil ?
Civil is a global network for ethical journalism. It uses blockchain as a means to an end: We’re trying to create a network of news organizations that you know you can trust because you see the Civil mark.
We’re trying to solve two big issues here: trust and financial sustainability. With trust, participating newsrooms have to adhere to tenets of high-quality journalism by being evidence-based, ethical, and source-transparent. We’re currently drafting a “Civil constitution” that every Civil newsroom will need to abide by.
When it comes to financial sustainability: Newsrooms will continue to run the way they always run but, by virtue of being on the network, they’ll be introduced to new potential revenue streams. The network is completely community-owned and operated. People and newsrooms hold tokens, called CVLs (“civils”), a form of cryptocurrency that went on sale in September.
When a newsroom agrees to the constitution and joins the network, it fills out an application. Community members oversee applications, and if members suspect an applicant will not abide by the standards, they can challenge the application, which triggers a vote. To challenge, you need to stake the same amount that it takes to join (c. $1,000).
Everyone with a token can vote: one token, one vote. If the challenge is successful the newsroom is not allowed onto the platform, unless that newsroom wants to appeal the decision to the Civil Council. The Council is our equivalent of the Supreme Court. It will be comprised of about 15–16 respected journalists.
There are economic incentives and disincentives to challenging, because if you lose the challenge you’ll lose the tokens you staked.
That’s the basic governance model.
On the financial sustainability side, tokens are currency you can use to pay newsrooms, though you can also just use your credit card. But with tokens new opportunities open up, like micro-tipping, which reduces some of the transaction fees. You could “flick” someone a part of a token, and there are other economic benefits that come from tokenomics.
Let’s talk through a few scenarios so readers can understand how this works.
Scenario #1: I’m an avid reader and news junkie. What’s it going to cost me to get into this game?
If you buy $100 worth of tokens, proceeds from the token sale will go to the foundation; the primary activity of that will be grant-making. You also own the tokens, which you can use to reward newsrooms. You’re spending your money but you still have your money — so you’re sort of doubling your value because it helps grant-making and you’re using this for journalism and creating a healthy network.
Of course, the currency will fluctuate according to supply and demand, perceived value, and real value. But we’re explicitly telling people not to buy CVL tokens to get rich. This is not intended for currency speculators. We hope tokens hold value, and they will if they have enough people participating at scale.
Scenario #2: I’m a media maker. Why do I want to get on the Civil platform?
Civil is specifically for funding journalism, not other forms of media. It’s not for individual journalists or media makers, it’s for news organizations. Of course, news organizations can be one person. But this is not for freelance journalists, it’s for “newsrooms.” Over time we think there could be value for freelancers, but not right now.
The first batch of newsrooms got a token grant to seed the network and show the spectrum of newsrooms that could benefit from it. As soon as the platform launches, others can join to become Civil newsrooms.
How does publishing to the blockchain work?
Civil newsrooms use whatever content management system (CMS) they are currently using. Joining isn’t a big deal, workflow wise — newsrooms can publish to their existing CMS and use a backend plugin to connect to Civil on the blockchain.
Right now, we are up and running on Wordpress, and we are still building the plugins for other CMS platforms.
Blockchain keeps a record of every story so that it can’t be deleted. But things can be removed from public view. Blockchain is a distributed ledger, which means it exists everywhere at once — things aren’t stored on one server, so it’s not possible for a single source to demand that something be removed.
There are legal reasons why a story may need to be removed from public view, but, with blockchain, the record of it won’t disappear.
The initial token sale was extended. Why?
It was extended from two weeks to four weeks because the process is kind of difficult for those who have never bought cryptocurrency before. We found a way to streamline orders, and wanted to extend the sale period to allow newbies to participate.
What some buyers didn’t realize is they can get as little as $10 worth; you can buy fractions of a token if you like. You should try it!
We’re unusual in that we’re marketing this to regular people. This is the first consumer-facing crypto-currency startup. Everything before us has been business-to-business.
If all of this goes well, all of the net proceeds after taxes will go to the foundation. What will it do?
The foundation will do three things. First, make grants to newsrooms. It also serves the governance purpose: The Civil Counsel will be housed in the foundation. The evolution of the constitution will be with the foundation now, but will go to the community. Finally: Research and convening.
What kinds of newsrooms might Civil grants go to?
The spirit of Civil is about supporting all kinds of newsrooms. We have a partnership with AP, so we’re not just for the little guys. Our mission is to make sure that fact-based journalism, especially about underreported topics, finds a home, so that people can be educated and informed.
Is this paving the way for other people to use cryptocurrency to fund media?
It could be. We’ll see how it goes!
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