Popula, a news platform based on subscription, has become the first news platform to save an article on the Blockchain network in its entirety.
News Article Saved On The Blockchain
Maria Bustillos, the editor of the news platform, announced that the platform has saved one of its articles, which had been featured on the Death + Taxes magazine on the distributed network. Going by the information provided in the report, the article has been stored on the Ethereum Blockchain network in full and its hash stored on the IPFS protocol. Having taken these steps, it is expected that the article will remain on the network indefinitely or for as long as both the IFPS protocol and the Ethereum network continue to be in existence.
The storage of the article on the Ethereum network was facilitated by engineers from Civil, who have been in support of the news platform since its launch. The storing of the article was done through the use of MetaMask, with the editor saying it was easier than she had originally expected. Bustillos said that she had managed to save the article within half an hour.
Bustillos said that the main aim of this project was ensuring that the articles were properly preserved. She added that she had had the since 2012 which is the first time she had been in contact with the distributed ledger technology. After coming to understand the workings of the distributed ledger technology and the benefits that came with it, Bustillos said she conceived the idea which has just now came to fruition.
All Publications To Be Stored On The Ethereum Network
She stated that even in those earlier times, she had been able to perceive that the greatest benefit of Blockchain technology was the decentralization aspect of it, and its ability to produce incorruptible records. She added that as a journalist she could see that the technology could be used in the protection of freedom of speech as well as press freedom. She added that through Blockchain technology a genuinely decentralized world is becoming a reality, with records that are truly unchangeable and whose integrity can be assured.
Bustillos named a few examples where libraries were destroyed, whether intentionally or by accident, which saw a wealth of information get completely destroyed. She added that through Blockchain technology, it would be that much more difficult to corrupt or destroy records. She also confirmed that going forwards, all news articles published on the Populaplatform will be stored on the Ethereum network.
Storing of the publications will be done within ninety days from the time of the publication. She however added that there were still some issues to be worked out before this could be done such as building a viewership for the articles etc.
Saving Full Articles On The Blockchain
She explained the technicality of storing a full article on the Blockchain as opposed to storing its hash on the IPFS protocol saying that although digital signatures were important, without having the full work on the network it remained vulnerable to tampering.