What Does it Mean When the NY Times Uses a Spot.Us Pitch?
There has been a lot of chatter about the Spot.Us pitch on the Pacific Garbage Patch. This is in part because it is a fascinating pitch and the reporter’s passion pours throughout the page. Perhaps attention was also merited because it has been supported by such amazing individuals. And of course we’d be remiss not to acknowledge that the NY Times has publicly considered running the finished content.
In a time when the craft of journalism is searching to find itself, anything new the “gray lady” does will turn heads.
As many know, I try to avoid the “old media vs. new media” debate. I say “I have constructive criticisms for both sides.”
Details on new media criticism: It needs to mature and blossom.
Details on old media criticism. It must learn to be agile – fail early and often.
My hat is off to the New York Times for being more agile than most. I spent an afternoon at the Times and met with three key individuals and we were off and running. That is about as lean as any startup I know.
As a result of trying something new chatter has commenced.
- Poynter: The NYTimes Considers Foundation Funding for News
- Mashable: Is Crowdfunding the Future of Journalism?
- Daily Green: Groundbreaking Investigation into the Pacific Garbage Patch
- Hoi Polloi: Civic Journalism is Coming Get Over it.
- BayNewser: Spot.Us at Work
- The New York Times: One Newspaper, Many Checkbooks
- Huffington Post: Charity or Collaboration at the Times (BuzzMachine)
- Online Journalism Blog: What wil the future of journalism be?
- Maimonidesladder: Second Great Age of Patronage
- Chronicle of Higher Education: Investigative Reporting on Demand
- PayyAttention: What if Readers Fund an Open Journalism?
But what does this all mean both for Spot.Us and for the potential future of journalism? We would never claim to have answers, but we do have theories.
Every pitch on Spot.Us is defacto a collaboration. At the very least it is between the reporter and the community of supporters.
But often news organizations get involved. Sometimes we get TWO news organizations involved. In the future – I hope we can get THREE news organizations to collaborate around a single pitch.
We are producing a custom CMS that is based around the idea that “collaboration is queen.” It is the acknowledgment that no single news organization can do everything and that it is okay to “link to the rest.” It requires a new level of transparency and honesty in our reporting.
By opening up to Spot.Us the NY Times is, perhaps, testing the water for what future partnerships and collaborations should look and feel like. Of course, I’d never speak for the Times, just giving my own observations and reflections.
For Spot.Us it is a shinning example of what is possible. Say In fact, I think we haven’t even scratched the surface of what is possibe to fundraise for journalism. Which is really to say – we haven’t figured out all the various ways that the public can get involved in journalism or how collaborations can be organized in an effecient and impactful manner. That’s the light at the end of this tunnel journalism is in. A world where reporters can freely reveal their ideas, find partnering reporters and news organizations, engage in transparent journalism (journalism as conversation perhpas) involving the public and producing content that has a positive impact on our communities.
Say that last sentence three times fast.
Yes, it is a mouthful, but that’s what we have to bite off right now.
So what does the Pacific Garbage Patch represent in all that? It is one long journey for Lindsey Hoshaw. It is one small step towards collaborative and transparent journalism that engages the public.
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