YouCommNews was an Australian

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organisation which brought journalists, publishers and the public together for

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

of ideas and resources (including funding) for community-driven journalism. It was founded in 2010 by freelance journalist

Melissa Sweet Melissa Sweet is an Australian journalist and nonfiction writer. Formerly employed by ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', ''The Bulletin'' magazine, and Australian Associated Press, she specializes in writing about human health and medicine. Early ...

and

Margaret Simons Margaret Simons (born 1960) is an Australian academic, freelance journalist and author. She has written numerous articles and essays as well as many books, including a biography of Senate leader of the Australian Labor Party Penny Wong. Her essa ...

of the Public Interest Journalism Foundation (PIJF), then based at the

Institute for Social Research The Institute for Social Research (german: Institut für Sozialforschung, IfS) is a research organization for sociology and continental philosophy, best known as the institutional home of the Frankfurt School and critical theory. Currently a part ...

of the

Swinburne University of Technology Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without acce ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

. Its model was based on the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

' organisation

Spot.us Spot.Us was a non-profit organization designed to bring citizens, journalists, and news publishers together in an online marketplace based on crowdsourcing and crowdfunding methods and principles. It was founded in 2008 by David Cohn, who receive ...

. Members of the public could participate either by suggesting ideas for stories they would like a journalist to cover, or by donating money towards a story pitch. Journalists then either suggested a story idea or applied to fulfill an existing idea. Publishers would jointly fund stories or purchase completed stories, with funds reimbursed to donors. The project launched with a story investigating the suspension of a childhood

immunisation Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non ...

program following many instances of childhood febrile convulsions in Australia.

PIJF today

As of 2020, PIJF had evolved into an independent organisation, named Public Interest Journalistic Freedom, which is partially

crowd-funded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

References

External links

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Public Interest Journalistic Freedom (PIJF)
Crowdsourcing Creative Commons {{Australia-org-stub