Verizon's newsroom to use blockchain in bid for absolute transparency

Verizon unveiled "a blockchain-based, open-source newsroom product designed to raise the bar for corporate accountability," today according to a public statement.

Called Full Transparency, the platform is meant to immutably document the company's own news releases on a public blockchain.

Verizon posted its first news story through the platform yesterday, according to comments sent to Cointelegraph by a Verizon representative.

The rep noted that "Only text changes are currently tracked on the blockchain."

In recent years, fake news, fact checking, and censorship have caused problems for social media and traditional media alike.

Verizon's statement mentioned the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer as an indicator of people's media doubts around the world.

Verizon hopes that the platform will set a new standard for corporate transparency and responsibility.

"All news releases published to the Verizon Newsroom will be secured and bound using cryptographic principles, so that subsequent changes can be tracked and contextualized," the statement included.

The endeavor is the result of collaboration between marketing company Huge, blockchain data storage company MadNetwork, and nonprofit blockchain application entity, AdLedger.

Verizon looked looked to blockchain technology earlier in 2020 for security enhancement as well.