This is an automatic English translation of the Dutch original.
What if the internet goes down? Can you still do journalism then, and can you still trust it? With that question we kicked off MeshMedia on 18 June, the summer research trajectory in which we explore what Mesh network technology can mean for journalism.
With a group of ten we dived in. First the why of mesh took centre stage. That is about breaking free from dependence on Big Tech, and investigating whether journalism can also work entirely without it. MeshCore is an open, local messaging network you can build without big platforms. Some safety regions are already exploring it, and we looked at what it could mean for local media.
In the second part of the workshop we got to work. We split the group in two: one half had to get a crucial message across to the other via a private channel in MeshCore. In practice, that went less smoothly than it all sounds so far. But that was exactly the win of the afternoon: gaining insights into what still needs to improve to make it really useful.
So here follows a hefty list: everything we learned that afternoon, plus the questions we want to investigate further in the coming months. See it as a research agenda:
- Channel split. One part of the group had contact among themselves and another part did too, via the same private channel, but the two parts didn’t see each other. A known problem in the Mesh world, which can possibly be addressed by using Rooms.
- Trust. Because you can’t be sure whether a message actually reaches everyone, trust becomes a problem.
- Dull design. The MeshCore app doesn’t look attractive, which is a barrier for less technical or enthusiastic participants.
- Map mode requires internet. The map view doesn’t work offline.
- DDoS resilience. The question came up of whether the network can withstand overload or deliberate disruption. That is something to test.
- Energy consumption. Tip from the group: use equipment based on Nordic chips instead of ESP32, because they are much more energy-efficient.
- Read-only rooms. The question is whether it is possible to set up channels where messages can only be read and not posted, for example for an editorial team broadcasting to listeners?
- Bluetooth / hybrid. For very local traffic: aren’t you better off with Bluetooth? And can that work hybrid with LoRa?
In short, plenty to figure out. Above all, the exercise showed that the technology works, but that reliability, ease of use and trust are the real points of attention to make it useful for journalism.
Next step: on 17 July we’ll do a field test. Then we’ll travel across Utrecht with nodes and repeaters to map coverage in practice and test reliability in the field.
This meetup was part of our research within the Incubator programme of the Dutch Journalism Fund (SVDJ). The SVDJ Incubator is a grant and guidance programme aimed at finding solutions to shared challenges within the journalism sector.
Through knowledge sharing, guidance and grants, the SVDJ stimulates an independent, diverse and future-proof journalistic infrastructure in the Netherlands.
For questions about the SVDJ Incubator or the solutions that have come out of it, go to www.svdj.nl/incubator.