Wikinews shut down – Wikinews, the free news source

Sunday, April 26, 2026

26 April 2026 — After more than two decades online, Wikinews is preparing to shut down, marking the end of one of the internet’s earliest experiments in open, volunteer‑driven journalism. The announcement has prompted an emotional response from long‑time contributors, many of whom say the project shaped their lives in ways they never expected.

A project built by ordinary people

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Wikinews launched in 2004 with a simple idea: anyone, anywhere, could help report the news. Over the years, contributors came from all walks of life — students writing their first article, retirees looking for a new hobby, and volunteers who stayed up late to review breaking stories with strangers halfway across the world.

For many, the site became more than a platform. It was a place to learn, to grow, and to connect.

Why the project is ending

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The decision to shut down comes after years of declining activity. Fewer volunteers had the time to write or review stories, and the site’s aging tools made publishing increasingly difficult. As the pace of the internet accelerated, Wikinews struggled to keep up.

Editors say the closure feels less like a sudden decision and more like the final page of a long, slow chapter.

Although the site will no longer accept new articles, the entire archive — thousands of stories written over two decades — will stay online in read‑only form. For many contributors, that archive feels like a time capsule of their younger selves.

Wikinews never became as large as Wikipedia, but it left a mark on everyone who contributed to it. The shutdown marks the end of a unique chapter in online collaboration — one built not on clicks or algorithms, but on people who simply wanted to tell the world what was happening.