A Story for the NYTimes – The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
It has already hit the Twitterverse and has been snarked on Gawker.
Spot.Us is all about transparency. In many ways it is built into the system. But sometimes I wish we could launch things in relative obscurity to get our ducks in a row. Alas this is a belated blog post announcing what a small Tweet already go started.
We have a pitch on Spot.Us that has a serious chance at getting published in the New York Times.
Dissecting the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Pacific Garbage Patch is an aggregation of plastic in the ocean that is now twice the size of Texas. On the ten year anniversary of its discovery Captain Moore has invited a young reporter to join him in researching the impact this toxic whirlpool might have on the food chain and potentially harming humans.
The young reporter, Lindsey Hoshaw, is as motivated as one can get. She is reading up on science articles, preparing for scuba lessons and ready to unleash all the skills she picked up at Stanford’s journalism school. This is her beat (trash) and this trip is her World Series. What happens to the world’s plastic? She’s made it all the way to the folks at the Times who have expressed real interest in running the content if its up to par. What they can’t do, however, is pay her travel budget.
That’s where we hope to help. But we have to do it together!
The NYTimes will run the finished content, giving credit to the Spot.Us community for helping to raise travel money. In addition, Spot.Us will get a few extra photos (for creative commons), blog posts along the way and an interview with Lindsey explaining the story behind the story.
We have a daunting goal. Lindsey’s travel will cost somewhere around 10k in total. As of right now Spot.Us is hoping to help by raising 6k. If we can do that – we may even continue fundraising. That means we need to find at least 300 people to give an average of $20 each. That is no small task. But I think we can do it!
And we are off to a GREAT start. In fact, we are very close to the 20 percent mark. If we hit it – that could be the most money raised on Spot.Us in a single week. We need another $290 to hit that goal. It would certainly be a reason to celebrate. In fact, if we do hit it, I will do a silly chicken dance and post it to 12seconds.tv. That’s right, I’m prepared to resort to antics!
David does not guarantee wearing this costume
This pitch represents an exciting challenge and opportunity for Spot.Us. I have full confidence in the passion and capabilities of Lindsey. The question is really if there are concerned and engaged community members willing to help out with the very real cost to report on this kind of topic: Travel. It isn’t cheap to get to the middle of the ocean. That may sound trivial but the topic is far from it. The more I learn about the Pacific Garbage Patch the more I wish I had never heard of it. I would sleep better at night.
But I suppose that’s what good journalism is supposed to do: Afflict the comfortable… into making better decisions that affect us all.
In that vein the following people have already helped get us closer to informing the world. We cannot thank you all enough. You are our partner in arms. And I know Lindsey will be doing everything she can to report this story on your behalf. Part of that will start now – as she gets ready to begin blogging on the Spot.Us pitch where this has been cross-posted (middle column).
May the project begin thanks to you!!!!
- Will Richardson
- Pierre Omidyar
- Joonas Linkola
- Lisa Taggart
- Ariel Vardi
- Ellen Miller
- gail taylor
- Ramin Firoozye
- Stephanie McInroy
The next question is…. whose coming with them!
$290 left to go for me to do a chicken dance on 12seconds.tv.
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Hey, Dave. Exciting that the Times is involved. Congrats. Will the piece be CC-licensed, too, or just those extra photos?
@Zach
The Time’s involvement – just to be super clear – is really for the editorial and being open to running the series once it is produced. That content will be theirs. We are taking it one step at a time
The extra photos that Lindsey is able to provide will be CC. I think the editorial at the Times might be open to CCing their photos – but in truth I think it is out of their hands and into the legal department which is a can of worms we aren’t in a position to try and open.
Yeah, totally understood, and one step at a time, indeed. Just wanted to clarify. Thanks.