ITN has signed a deal with OpenOrigins to secure its archives against synthetic media (aka artificial intelligence).
The deal will see the news organisation preserve more than a million video clips of footage gathered by ITN since it was founded in 1955.
ITN will use OpenOrigins’ technology to validate every item in its archive and secure it on a blockchain. This ensures that every piece of ITN content, both future and past will have an immutable point of provenance, giving it a proof of originality, said the company.
OpenOrigins’ technology creates a ‘fingerprint’ for each piece of content that is securely stored as a hash on the blockchain. This can be used to demonstrate that the content is original and authentic from the outset, rather than trying to retrospectively verify footage.
“The ITN archive is a unique repository of Britain’s cultural history over 70 years and we are excited to be using new technology to protect this valuable asset,” said ITN director of news distribution and commercial innovation, Tami Hoffman.
“As the information ecosystem becomes increasingly polluted with synthetic material, news organisations will have to work hard to retain audience trust. Partnering with OpenOrigins allows ITN to reassure its viewers and clients by ringfencing the archive from future threats.”
