About: The Network

Team members:

• Ivan Ajdinski 231159
• David Davitkovski 231227

Short description:

This project is a relational database system for a digital news platform that enables independent journalists to publish and manage their content. Users can browse articles, interact through comments and ratings, and follow journalists to receive updates. The system supports content organization, media integration, fact-checking, and role-based access control.

Detailed description of the project:

This project presents the design and implementation of a relational database for a modern digital news platform focused on empowering independent journalists. The system provides a structured environment where journalists can publish articles, attach media, reference sources, and build their professional presence through journalist profiles and follower relationships. Unlike traditional centralized news systems, this platform is designed to support decentralized content creation, allowing multiple independent contributors to share information and reach audiences directly. Users can explore articles organized through a hierarchical category system and enriched with tags for more precise classification. This allows for efficient browsing, filtering, and discovery of content across various topics. The platform also supports user interaction features such as commenting, rating articles and comments, and following journalists. These features simulate real-world engagement and community-driven content evaluation. To ensure credibility and reliability, the system includes a fact-checking module where designated users can review articles and assign verdicts (e.g., true, false, misleading). This introduces an additional layer of trust and accountability, which is critical in modern digital journalism. Media management is integrated through a dedicated media system, allowing articles to include images, videos, or audio files. Additionally, sources can be linked to articles, enabling transparency and traceability of information. The system implements role-based access control using roles and permissions, supporting different types of users such as administrators, editors, journalists, fact-checkers, moderators, and readers. Each role has specific capabilities, ensuring proper content governance and platform management.