Civil Weekly Newsletter: 8/10 Edition
Beyond Bitcoin. How Civil aims to bridge the gap between blockchain and the general public.
We want Civil to be the reason many people interact with a blockchain-based technology for the first time.
Unlike Bitcoin, still the most commonly associated term for most when they hear the term “blockchain,” Civil is not for those simply looking to turn a quick profit. In fact, it’s not intended for investors or speculators at all — it’s for people who want to use CVL tokens to promote a healthier model for producing and supporting honest, ethical journalism (here’s a great explainer from the former CEO of National Public Radio on how this works).
In other words, we want to help a lot of people learn how to purchase cryptocurrency, and do so with the explicit understanding that this isn’t something that’s intended to yield a significant profit. If we do it right, we hope that “Civil” will one day be as synonymous with “blockchain” as “Bitcoin” — but for a very different reason.
Ambitious — and possibly crazy?
Yes, and yes.
But we believe this has the potential to breathe new life into the struggling journalism industry, at a time it’s desperately needed and when few other possible solutions are presenting themselves.
If you’re ready to take this leap, we’re here to support you.
- Want to start with a written overview? There’s a detailed “how to purchase CVL” guide and FAQ section on our website.
- Not sure where to even begin? Register for one of the daily webinars we’ll be hosting between now and September 14 (be sure to click on the first date, which opens up a pulldown list for the next two weeks). We’ll walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to responsibly purchase cryptocurrency, how CVL works and field your questions live.
- Questions? Drop us a line 24/7: support(at)civil(dot)co.
Once you’re comfortable with the process, register to purchase CVL tokens with our close partners at Token Foundry.
If blockchain isn’t for you, never fear — you can still read and support journalism on Civil just as you would on any other publication (and no, you don’t have to pay for subscriptions in cryptocurrency!).
This is the type of journalism you’ll find on Civil.
Not to be lost in the excitement around the upcoming token sale and general platform launch: eight Newsrooms are already publishing on Civil.
Creating a network that allows journalism to thrive outside of traditional corporate ownership structures — a system in which the journalists retain control — is why we’re all here.
Here are some highlights from this week across the Civil Newsroom ecosystem:
- Block Club Chicago took an in-depth look at the controversial “bait truck” tactics being employed by local police in the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods.
- Sludge broke the story of an Arizona Congressman’s all-expenses-paid trip to an anti-Muslim rally in London last month.
- Felipe de la Hoz at Documented published an in-depth analysis of why taxi drivers are rejoicing at the news of this week’s landmark decision to cap the number of Uber and Lyft drivers in New York City.
- ZigZag featured Popula’s Maria Bustillos this week. She shared audio recording and additional reflections from her interview with Anthony Bourdain this spring — the last major interview he did before his tragic suicide.
- FAQ NYC continued to inject new life into New York City’s beleaguered local journalism industry, posting its second weekly podcast — and officially launching its website! Rumor has it, they’ll feature a major guest next week: New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio.
- Does legalizing marijuana actually increase tax revenue? Cannabis Wire published a detailed analysis on that topic this week.
- The Colorado Sun announced it will officially begin publishing on September 10. In the meantime, its team broke a story in its newsletter about a controversial bid for Colorado State University to assist the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to sterilize the region’s wild horse population — a bid CSU subsequently dropped after the news was reported.
These Newsrooms are already making incredible impacts in their respective communities. And they’re all united in publishing on what will soon be a cooperatively owned and operated platform in which journalists are beholden to their readers alone.
Just imagine the type of impact we can collectively make when there are 800, instead of eight, Newsrooms publishing on Civil. And yes, “we” — this model doesn’t work if it’s not supported by an underlying, impassioned community!
For those interested, here’s a primer on how to launch a Newsroom on Civil. And if you don’t want to launch your own Newsroom, but want to sponsor a worthy party to do so, get in touch.
Calling all developers — here’s how to build on Civil (no Ethereum experience necessary).
Civil’s Peter Ng published a detailed preview of what we’ve done — and what we’re doing — to ensure that Civil is a developer-friendly environment from day one.
If you’re not a software developer, fair warning: this post gets rather technical. But it concerns a topic that will impact everybody in the Civil community, though: how we will make our technology easy to build on, regardless of whether a developer is experienced with the Ethereum blockchain or not.
While we already have a lot in mind ourselves for additional tools, services and features we intend to add to Civil once the platform is live, we want to open up the process to all. The best ideas generally come from the wisdom of the crowds, and we’re committed to making this an inclusive process from the get-go.
Civil will be hitting the road this fall.
Here’s the latest on events you can find us at in the coming months — an ever-evolving list, to be sure! Get in touch if you’d like to talk to us about an upcoming event.
- Blockchain Seattle [September 10–11, Seattle, WA]
- Token Fest [September 13–14, Boston, MA]
- Plateforme(s) [September 13–14, Montreal]
- ONA [September 13–15, Austin, TX]
- World Publishing Expo and DCX Digital Content Expo [October 9–11, Berlin]
- Medientage [October 24–26, Munich]
- Korea Press Foundation Annual Journalism Conference [October 29–30, Seoul]
- Big Data + AI for Media Week [October 29-November 2, London]
For the latest Civil updates, follow us on Telegram, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
What we’re reading this week.
- What’s the matter with Twitter? [Poynter]
- After selling the LA Times, Tronc is said to be considering bids for the Chicago Tribune [Chicago Tribune]
- Poll: alarming number of people want to give Trump the power to shut down the media [The Daily Beast]
- Two months since GDPR, more than 1,000 U.S. news sites remain unavailable in Europe [Nieman Lab]
The Random Musing Section
I’ve spent a lot of time on the road the past two weeks, meaning I’ve had ample time to binge podcasts. Since I’m already caught up on (shameless Civil plug alert!) ZigZag and FAQ NYC, I decided to branch out. That’s how I discovered Heavyweight, from Gimlet Media.
It’s not like anything else I’ve ever heard, so I won’t even attempt to fully describe it. But if you like character-driven narratives, with a healthy dose of dry, sardonic humor, let Jonathan Goldstein lead the way on your next road trip.
Speaking of which, I still have a four-hour drive ahead of me this weekend, and I’m now done with Heavyweight. Any other suggestions? Please send ’em my way!
Have a great week; see you next Friday.
— Matt Coolidge
