Ever since I started talking about the network weaver concept, the idea of social networks has intrigued me. It is time now for me to dive deep into the pool. So far I have had my foot in the water with the likes of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and his concept of [...]
Spot.us, David Cohn’s invention to crowdfund journalism with micropayments, is hiring a community organizer. It’s a brilliant idea and one I have always thought central to my Representative Journalism concept. You can hear me talk about it in the pitch I made to PBS president Paula Kerger. I have called the position a network weaver. [...]
The Representative Journalism and Spot.us crowdfunding models got the talking-head treatment at WGBH in Boston. It is interesting to be on the receiving end of one of these of discussions. In the end, I would say it was fair and balanced even though the moderator, who worried about the biases in crowdfunding, showed her [...]
Our Representative Journalism project is part of a larger story by Mark Glaser at PBS’s MediaShift. We get top billing with David Cohn’s Spot.Us. It’s an article you will want to read.
You can read my full responses to Glaser’s email inquiries here.
Spot.us, David Cohn’s innovative site to help fund journalism projects via crowdfunding, launches today. Here is the idea in four bullet points:
People submit tips
Journalists pitch stories
People fund pitches or journalists to do the stories
Stories are reported
Clay Shirky in his book Here Comes Everybody (Chapter 11), lays out three rules for successful social action sites like [...]
As you might know, the Harnisch Foundation under the direction of Ruth Ann Harnisch gave us a substantial gift to start the Center for for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University. We are up and running. Keep abreast of what is happening at SustainableJournalism.org 
Leonard Witt is the Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communication at Kennesaw State University and the chief blogger of PJNet. His academic interests include public and citizen journalism and how to get citizens' voices heard. He has spent most of his professional career as an award-winning journalist.