5 easy ways you can help WikiTribune
From the big to the tiny
Since we launched the pilot site, we’ve had lots of people asking how they can help with our mission to fix the news. We’re keen to have as many WikiTributors as possible, so we’ve written this post to help you find a way to contribute that works for you.
1. Write and edit articles
Become a community member by signing up for an account (we’ll approve it as soon as we can), then get stuck in. Please note that you’ll need to use your real name (here’s why).
WikiTribune uses the WordPress CMS (content management system), which should be familiar to lots of you, but if not, here’s a guide to getting started with our version of it.
Some easy ways to get involved with writing and editing include:
- Going into a published article and fixing a typo you’ve spotted
- Adding an image (with the appropriate rights) where one is needed
- Editing articles to comply with our style guidelines
- Starting a new story about something you’re interested in. It’ll be approved by a member of the team before going live, so don’t worry about getting it perfect.
2. Share our stories
There are already lots of published news stories on the WikiTribune site. An easy way to help us out is to share one that you enjoyed, or you think needs more collaborators, on social media or with friends and family.
We’d also enormously appreciate retweets, Follow Friday shout-outs, and Facebook reviews.
3. Refer people to us
If you know someone who’d make a great amateur journalist, has an eagle eye for spelling errors or just needs a reliable news source in their lives, please send them our way. We’d rather spend subscriptions on journalism than advertising, so word-of-mouth really helps us out.
We’re particularly keen to increase our audience of women, marginalised groups, and people from beyond the western countries, so if you have a connection to a community, please tell them about us.
4. Tell us what you think of the pilot site
Honest feedback is the best way to improve our product. We’ve started a Project where you can tell us what you think about absolutely everything WikiTribune, and please don’t hold back. Bugs, errors, things you like, things you don’t, suggestions, complaints, wild and effusive praise — it’s all welcome on the feedback Talk page.
5. Become a supporter
WikiTribune is free. There’s no paywall and there are no ads. But like any company, we need to pay our staff, hosting and running costs if we’re going to keep going.
If you see a story you enjoyed, you learnt something from us or you just want WikiTribune to succeed, please consider becoming a supporter. You can choose the amount, cancel at any time, or just send us a one-off gift. We all say we want better news, but it’s action that makes the difference.
Enormous thanks for anything you choose to do for us, from donating to retweeting. It’s appreciated by Jimbo and the entire WikiTribune team.
