Caption: Lindsey Hoshaw’s original video pitch for funding her reporting mission on Spot.us
MIAMI (Nov. 10, 2009) — The New York Times today published a story on pollution patches in the Pacific Ocean, with research provided in part through the community-funded reporting site Spot.us.
Related Link
Read the related story by Lindsey Hoshaw in the New York Times here:
“Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash ”
A winner of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight News Challenge, Spot.Us solicits funding from the public to produce stories on local issues. To date, close to 900 people have funded 35 plus projects on Spot.Us, with an average donation of about $40. For freelance reporter Lindsey Hoshaw’s article, “Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Isles of Trash,” more than 100 donors contributed $10,000 towards her one-month research trip aboard the Alguita.
“The Web demands engagement; traditional journalism has not. Spot.us invites the audience to participate in the decision-making process,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “Technology and innovation are changing journalism. Having the country’s leading news organization accept a Spot.us story is a milestone in the evolution of American journalism,”
Spot.us founder David Cohn applauded the New York Times’ willingness to embrace new forms of journalism.
“My hat is off to the New York Times. They interfaced with Spot.Us as if they were a lean, mean start-up…It is a testament to why the New York Times is not just the paper of record, but also leading the charge into the digital future.”
The Knight News Challenge is an annual, $5 million contest to find new ideas to transform community news. Applications for the 2010 challenge are being accepted until Dec. 15, 2009 at www.newschallenge.org.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Media Contact:
Marc Fest, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677; [email protected]