Looking for an interesting use of the grass-roots internet? Well, look no further than Spot.Us, a project of the nonprofit Center for Media Change that allows an individual or group to take control of news by sharing the cost (crowdfunding) to commission freelance journalists. Spot Us is made possible by the Knight Foundation.

How does it work?

Well, Spot.Us is still in its early stages, pre-alpha if you will, but that doesn't mean you can't get a closer look.  The description on the Spot.Us blog is a bit more in-depth than the website:

1.  Anyone can create a “story idea.” Example: “I would like to see somebody do an investigation into the quality of our water in San Jose.”
2.  Journalists create pitches that can be inspired by your ideas. An example pitch.
3.  We get pledge donations - but nobody’s credit cards are charged until we reach our goal. This way you know your pledge will play a meaningful role and won’t be squandered.
4.  The finished content is licensed under a Creative Commons license and Spot Us will try and get it published in as many places as possible.
5.  If any news organization wants exclusive rights to the story, they will have to refund a percentage of the original donations - so you will get your money back to invest in a new story.
6.  Democracy flourishes, you feel good.

Spot.Us was founded by David Cohn and funded from a Knight News Challenge Grant.

What is most exciting about Spot.Us to me is the way that consumers of the news and information are in the highest position to determine what is most important, news-worthy and the funding.  I think many online efforts are looking at how participation can be part of the entire process, not just the finished product.  What this shift means is that even nonprofit organizations or social change efforts could take note of successes and use similar methods to more completely include other interested parties (individuals or other organizations) in the full process of work.

“Journalism is a process, not a product” and Spot Us aims to make that process participatory.

Next steps:

If you want to look into what Spot.Us is tackling in development right now leading up to launching this fall, you can:

• Check out and weigh in on the Spot.Us wiki
•  Follow updates on the Spot.Us blog
• See a first look and video of Spot.Us on DigiDave's blog

What would you suggest for a news platform fueled by the community?  What aspects of Spot.Us do you think contirubte to the way your organization or community could use the Internet?