LA Spot.Us Announces Managing Editor, Ramps Up for Community Funded Journalism
LA.Spot.Us, the community funded journalism project recently launched in Southern California through collaboration with USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism, has announced the appointment of veteran journalist Anh Do as managing editor of the site.
A second-generation journalist, Do has worked as vice president of Nguoi Viet Daily News, the largest Vietnamese-language newspaper in the U.S., where she founded Nguoi Viet 2, a weekly English section for younger readers. She started her career at the Dallas Morning News and the Seattle Times before writing for the Orange County Register for 12 years, including a column on Asian affairs.
Do’s work has been honored by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and the Asian American Journalists Association, and has earned the University of Washington’s DART award for excellence in reporting on victims of violence and Freedom Newspapers’ Sweepstakes Award.
“LA.Spot.Us enables us at Annenberg to pursue our commitment to serving the public information needs AND our eagerness to experiment with new economic models for news,” said USC Annenberg School of Journalism director Geneva Overholser. “To have Anh Do, a longtime member of the Trojan family and a member of a revered Southern California newspaper family—and a smart and engaging and vibrant journalist herself—at the helm is a double delight. I’m excited about this next chapter for Spot.Us and for Annenberg, carving out practical knowledge in the interest of journalism.”
Do is a graduate of USC with degrees in journalism and English literature. On campus, she has taught news reporting and news writing at USC Annenberg. She also studied international relations at Regent’s College in London and Spanish at UNAM in Mexico City.
“I see our work as a driven, passionate partnership,” said Do. “All of us looking to inform and involve the public as we partner with news and community groups—this is a model that allows us to innovate the journalism we do today and into our future.”
A pioneer in community-funded journalism, Spot.Us is the only “crowd-sourced” Web site that focuses on local, long-form reporting. Visitors to the site may choose to donate money to support investigative reporting into an issue of their choice. Once completed, the reports are solicited for distribution through local media outlets. For example, The New York Times Science section recently published a story written by a freelance journalist Lindsey Hoshaw, whose expenses were paid by hundreds of donors to Spot.Us. In addition, Spot.Us is made possible by additional funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“Anh Do’s energy will help us explore this great city and use our platform to better serve the community,” said David Cohn, founder of Spot.Us. “She brings an open mind on how to use this platform along with journalism and news judgment that will benefit the site’s development. It’s exciting to work with USC, and Anh helps solidify that relationship.”
“I hear frequently from citizens who are concerned about where journalism is heading, and eager to help,” said Overholser. “This is an opportunity for Angelinos to help ensure a continued flow of information in the public interest.”
About Spot.Us
Spot.Us (http://spot.us), a nonprofit project of the Center for Media Change, is an open source project dedicated to “community funded reporting.” Through Spot.Us, the public can commission journalists to report on important and sometimes overlooked topics. Contributions are tax deductible; if a news organization buys exclusive rights to the content, donations will be reimbursed. Otherwise, all content is made available through a Creative Commons license. It’s a marketplace where independent reporters, community members and news organizations can come together and collaborate.
About the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism (annenberg.usc.edu) is a national leader in education and scholarship in the fields of communication, journalism, public diplomacy and public relations. With an enrollment of more than 2,200 students, USC Annenberg offers doctoral, graduate and undergraduate degree programs, as well as continuing development programs for working professionals, across a broad scope of academic inquiry. The school’s comprehensive curriculum emphasizes the core skills of leadership, innovation, service and entrepreneurship and draws upon the resources of a networked university located in the media capital of the world.
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Congratulations to LASpot.us to name Anh Do as managing editor! What a lucky organization to get this fantastic journalist. All the best Anh in your new endeavor.