Here's a synopsis from Cohn on the newschallenge.org website:
Spot Journalism will provide a new way to pay for local investigative reporting by soliciting financial support from the public. Through this project, independent journalists and residents will propose stories, while Spot Journalism uses the Web to seek "micro-payments" to cover the costs. If enough donors contribute the amount needed, a journalist will be hired to do the reporting. The money has to come from a variety of sources, though. Each project will need many small contributions before being approved in order to avoid personal crusades. In addition to offering a new model for investigative work, Spot Journalism will provide a way to discover the issues important to a community while giving a voice to those who wonder why a given problem is not being investigated.
Here's how it works:
1) An individual or journalist creates a pitch that outlines an untold story in a local community.
2) Members of your community vote, with their money, on what stories are most important to them.
3) A journalist researches the facts and puts together an article. Editors provide check-and-balance on the story.
4) Spot.us publishes the story in its news feeds and works with local media outlets to have the articles published more widely.
David added, "In order for a pitch to move forward to requires a minimum number of donors. In other words - one person can't put down 2k and buy a reporter - there has to be a tipping point or network that swarms around the pitch."
The project was among 16 projects awarded in the Knight News Challenge from the Knight Foundation. Here Cohn spells it out.
Spot.us is creative and unique and is sure to raise some eyebrows around the media world. Will communities take ownership in their news, at least enough to pay for it? And what kind of ethical dilemmas might reporters face when the story doesn't turn out like the "buyers" wanted?
I applaud his approach and interesting angle on journalism as a whole. I think this is exactly the kind of new thinking that can lead to serious change and support for local newspapers new business models.
Where's the inspiration? Those of you who are passionate about the future of media will find this interview with Dan Gillmor, an adviser to spot.us, encouraging. His attitude toward future journalists' career paths is great- "be an entrepreneur." (Interview by David Cohn).
Now is indeed the time for journalism students and professors alike to look at the media industry with promise, not as a dying craft. Good communicators don't grow on trees and quality journalism will always have a place in mainstream media. Take the time to look around you and see where the holes are. See what news is missing from your community.
A friend of mine started a blog/community around the local high school sports squad. Before he knew it, he had the whole student body and their parents, grandparents and relatives logging on to see what the score of the away game was and where the team dinner was going to be held. It's a small example of how community journalism can start to carve out a niche outside of the printed pages it currently offers.
I've heard that our local newspaper is scared of developing their website for fear that it will replace their print edition. Seems like you'd want to be on the progressive end of that battle. Start by accommodating the community. Be a resource, just as you newspaper was intended. Create a community of readers (young and old) who are coming to the local website for local resources (classifieds, events, sports stories, etc.,) and leverage your reader list for advertisers. Have readers register and build a list of "users" who you can send targeted ads to. Send Home Depot deals to your home improvement-minded readers or floral ads to men just before Valentines day. Why not? Most local newspapers have nothing to lose, so why not start the experiment now. As we've seen thus far, no one has all the answers.
We'll be addressing many more issues facing journalists and PR pros on PitchEngine in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. After all, we're all effected by what's happening in each of our respective channels.
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