The Problem with "News" is...

...that it all too soon becomes "Olds." Virtually every news story is about events of yesterday or today. These items age rather like fish.

On the other hand, what we are trying to create at Predictify is a future-looking news environment. When we invite users to "predict the news," that is not simply a tagline or empty rhetoric. That is an invitation to help us craft an entirely new approach, to turn our entrenched media culture on its head.

Where is the news headed? That is more relevant to us than where it has been. This concept of "predictive journalism" is a new one in media. Of course, there have always been "advance" stories that are based in known future events. And, to a certain extent, our questions include these types of future-news-based queries, such as "Who will win Saturday's big game?" or "Where will the stock market close next Friday?"

But, beyond these run-of-the-mill predictable questions, there is a much more intellectually challenging type. Based in trends in the news, and uncovering new patterns, this is the kind of question that is at the heart of Predictify's attempt to elucidate parts of our common future that otherwise might remain opaque until they happen.

In so doing, we might in a small way help anticipate future challenges that will emerge as "news" in ways that benefit humanity, not just our little company. Chipping away at our ignorance about the future is one way to think about it. That, at least, is this old editor's idealistic hope.

-- David Weir