Why Join The Civil Economy

Or, Why Buy CVL Tokens

Journalism is a vital public service. We believe journalism powers healthy communities. Journalism is how communities see themselves for who they are, and how individuals within communities stay connected, informed and self-directed. Without journalism, communities lose a shared set of facts, disconnect from alternative perspectives, and individuals lack the clarity and context needed to make good decisions for themselves.

Journalism is the core of who we are. Everything we do, we believe in journalism’s transcendent impact on communities and society at large.

But journalism is in crisis. The business model is collapsing with no viable alternative in sight. Meanwhile, news organizations everywhere are shedding reporters or closing altogether while public trust is at an all-time low. Journalists and citizens are increasingly intermediated by giant tech platforms, special interests or indifferent ownership. The current trajectory for global journalism is unsustainable, unrelenting and dangerous. At Civil, we are driven by an existential urgency to create something new, because we feel we must.

Candid answers from journalists when asked: “Why Civil?”

Civil seeks to build the new economy for journalism. As a blockchain-based ecosystem, Civil is unique because it involves a direct, peer-to-peer exchange of value between journalists, publishers, and everyday citizens. This economy is also self-governing, so individuals decide how to protect and evolve the system over time — not tech giants, special interests or governments.

We’re way past white papers. Blockchain-authenticated publishing, token-based voting, and peer-to-peer payments — the initial suite of Civil products is user-tested and ready to launch. Practically, Civil is several things at once brought together in a single ecosystem:

• A network of newsrooms, committed to a single standard and held accountable by everyday citizens and the independent journalists who serve them.
• A platform for publishing tools, for creators to prove authenticity, better control their content rights, and earn 100% of the value they create.
• A suite of revenue tools, for journalism creators on Civil to monetize via direct membership payments as well as licensing and syndication of content (and eventually more ethical forms of advertising) where that direct peer-to-peer exchange of value happens with consumers.
• A community-driven governance system where participants have a real voice, receive economic rewards for improving the network, and face consequences for egregious ethics violations.
• A tailor-made currency called CVL tokens to unlock both economic and governance workings in the Civil ecosystem.

Your CVL tokens represent your portion and provide the means of your participation in the Civil economy. CVL tokens can be used across all aspects of the journalism industry:

• By creators: Reporters, columnists, photographers, illustrators, researchers, tools and products that spark community engagement, and newsrooms of all sizes — independent, emerging growth and large media companies.
• By consumers: Readers, listeners, commenters, curators, moderators, and community organizations of all sizes — in other words, participants who value and support journalism.

Similar to what the US dollar is to the US economy, the CVL token is to the Civil economy, and the exchange of value within the Civil economy is like the GDP of the Civil economy. The more you participate and contribute, the more you can earn (e.g. receiving tokens for valuable contributions) and, correspondingly, the Civil economy grows. A growing token economy, like a nation-state economy benefiting from the increased production and activity of its participants, often correlates with a strengthened currency.

The larger, more diverse the pool of participants becomes, the more vibrant and stable the economy. Same in the Civil economy.

We want everyone who creates, consumes or in some way contributes to journalism — from everyday citizens to independent journalists to large media companies — to participate (and benefit) in this new economy for journalism.

The industry’s finest support Civil. A global and growing community of experts from journalism, technology and business back this new model.

• Best-in-class team with proven editors, technologists, and entrepreneurs with deep journalism expertise.
• Key partnerships with industry leaders such as our First Fleet newsrooms and major industry announcements forthcoming.
• Best-in-class technology: first to deploy consumer tokens, token-curated registry, and blockchain-publishing protocol in one ecosystem.
• Best-in-class brand: worldwide press coverage for our consumer application of blockchain and cryptoeconomics.

We need people who care about journalism to join our community, first by participating in our upcoming token sale and then later within the Civil economy itself.

The CVL Token Sale

We at Civil Media, the for-profit blockchain technology company behind the CVL token economy, want to sellout our $24MM token sale in order to fund ecosystem product development and catalyze global adoption among journalists, newsrooms, and everyday citizens.

Individuals can try the Civil economy for as little as $10. Convert your dollars into CVL tokens so you can:

• vote (one token, one vote),
• earn CVL for participating,
• pay your favorite journalists directly, and
• convert CVL back into cash whenever you want.

Convert $1,000 into CVL tokens to start or sponsor a newsroom on Civil. The more CVL you have, the more you can do and the more your vote counts.

Anyone who spends $10,000 or more in the CVL token sale is considered a Civil Benefactor. Maximum token sale contribution is $2MM.

Benefactor packages are perfect for charitable donations and philanthropists, impact angels and investors, and civic institutions. Families and groups can pool and purchase blocks of CVL tokens together as well.

Learn more and pre-register for the CVL token sale today.

At Civil, we believe journalism is vital. Everything we do is in service of powering independent, sustainable journalism throughout the world. We hope you’ll join us.

Thanks so much.
Matthew Iles and the Civil team

P.S. If you’re ready to register or you need more context, this next section’s for you:

I want to register:
Great! Go to Token Foundry where you’ll register for their platform and then the CVL token sale itself. Take our handy step-by-step guide with you in case you run into any trouble.

I still don’t get Civil:
That’s okay, it’s complicated at first! Check out these explainers:

• Civil Video
• The Civil Constitution
• The Civil Whitepaper
• Civil FAQs
• Civil Live Webinars
• Email us at: support@civil.co
• Or find us on Twitter at @join_civil