In the search for ways to fund journalism, some organisations have flirted with the possibility of crowdfunding some stories. While there have been a few minor successes (such as the non-profit hyperlocal project MinnPost), David Cohn's Spot.Us has garnered the most attention.
Spot.Us is essentially the purest form of crowdfunded journalism. It launched in fall 2008 with the help of a $340,000 grant from the Knight Foundation and is based in San Francisco.
Instead of listing off how it works, I recommend reading the FAQ section on the site. There you will find the details for how this all works.
Below is an interview with David Cohn. He decided to make a video response to my questions instead of writing them all out. In the video David answers questions about Spot.Us's financial future, growing the organisation to other cities and how a story goes from tip to pitch to published.
Ben LaMothe is a web & social media strategist with Florida-based advertising and marketing consultancy Renaissance Creative. You can follow him on Twitter.
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