EcoLocalizer

You may be thinking “Uh, Jeff, why are you asking?  Just write about it!” Yeah, that’s how we’d normally do things here.  I ask for a reason, though: we’re participating in an experiment in “community funded reporting” with Spot.us, a new journalism initiative in it’s very early stages.

Spot.us is the brainchild of David Cohn, aka DigiDave. The concept: “Spot Us’ is a nonprofit that allows an individual or group to take control of news in their community by sharing the cost (crowdfunding) to commission freelance journalists.” The project has been funded by a Knight Foundation “News Challenge” grant.

So, where do we come in?  We’re going to be among the first publication venues to test the system out.  We’ve agreed to ask for your support for an article by Wired.com staff writer Alexis Madrigal. The pitch:

California’s biofuels usage is expected to jump nearly 600 million gallons over the next couple of years, but the ethanol supply is already stretched to its limits. Almost all of California’s ethanol runs through a single terminal. If there were a disruption at that terminal — via accident or intent — the state’s gasoline infrastructure could grind to a halt. And even with that terminal, there are serious questions about whether the terminal could meet demand. (More details available at the Spot.us wiki)

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Now, here’s where you and the community funded journalism angle come in.  If you like the pitch, and would like to read the story here on the GO Media Network (most likely a two-part series run at Ecolocalizer and Gas 2.0), consider contributing a small amount to fund the story.  This one’s already 40% of the way there ($100 of the needed $250), so if 15 people can kick in $10, or 30 contribute $5, Spot.us can pay Alexis to write the piece, and we can publish it first.  Please note that GO Media receives nothing from the contributions made: all donations go to fund the creation of these articles, and they only move forward if Spot.us raises the full amount needed… The article will be published under a Creative Commons license, so other venues will be free to run it, also. To contribute, go to the article pitch’s page at The Point (or click on the “Join this Campaign” image).

We think this is an innovative concept, and we’re happy to lend a hand (and also to publish content from respected writers like Alexis).  We’re not the only ones that think Spot.us has potential: so far Jeff Jarvis and Josh Levy like it, also. Feel free to ask questions below… I’ll ask David to keep any eye on comments…

UPDATE: As David mentions below, this article is almost there… right now, it’s at $200.  Thank you so much to those of you who contributed… we’re excited about the level of response Alexis’ pitch has received.

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