Spot.Us was a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organization designed to bring citizens, journalists, and news publishers together in an

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a wa ...

based on

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 digit ...

and

crowdfunding 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, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

methods and principles. It was founded in 2008 by David Cohn, who received a $340,000 grant from the

Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

to pursue his idea. In November 2011 it was bought by

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

. They hosted the site for a time, but were unable to maintain it. It was retired February 2015. While providing a new option for funding journalism, it raised questions about activism and new sorts of conflict of interest. Spot.Us originally focused on projects in the San Francisco Bay area, where it was headquartered. It expanded to Los Angeles in 2009.

Method of operation

Stories began as tips from the public giving an issue they would like to see covered, or pitches from a journalist to create a story, including the amount of money needed. Visitors to the website could then donate to fund the pitch. Smaller stories cost a couple hundred dollars to fund, while the largest cost about one thousand dollars. Completed stories were available under a

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

license. They could be viewed for free on the website and used free of charge by news organizations. News organizations that wished to gain temporary copyright of articles might do so by contributing over 50 percent of the funding.

Conflicts of interest for journalists

Conflicts of interest around Spot.us arose due to the fact that readers were funding journalists' work. Because of this, journalists may have felt that they had to cater to their donors or they felt a "strong connection with the people that donated to them." This allows for an altered relationship between journalists and readers. It may also affect the way that the news is covered and compromise

journalistic objectivity Journalistic objectivity is a principle within the discussion of journalistic professionalism. Journalistic objectivity may refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship, but most often encompasses all of these qualit ...

. Like other crowdfunding platforms, using Spot.us meant that journalists were directly involved with marketing and finances. This means that journalistic independence may also be compromised.

References

External links

Spot.Us
* {{cite encyclopedia , url = http://www.niemanlab.org/encyclo/spot-us/ , title = Spot.us , author = Nieman Journalism Lab , date = , encyclopedia = Encyclo: an encyclopedia of the future of news , publisher = , accessdate = 1 April 2012 American news websites Crowdsourcing Creative Commons

Method of operation

Conflicts of interest for journalists

See also

References

External links