DigitalBeat

Spot.Us, a web site that cultivates local and investigative reporting by connecting journalists with outlets willing to pay for their work, announced today that it will team up with the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication, to give students a network for publishing their content in the Los Angeles area.

In addition to linking writers with publications, Spot.Us allows any visitors to its site to financially back reporting projects. They can even choose which issues they would like to fund stories about. Once the story is completed, it is offered up to outlets that comb the site for interesting and relevant topics. When a buyer is found, the money donated for that story is refunded. If there aren’t any takers for an article, it is published on the Spot.Us web site, so the writer is still given a voice — as well as the ability to refer future employers or publications to his or her content. Some of these stories are syndicated by Spot.Us partners like the New York Times, the Oakland Tribune and radio station KALW.

By partnering with Spot.Us, USC is increasing its journalism students’ chances of getting published by major media outlets even before they graduate. But it’s a two way street — the company is also benefiting from a pot of quality content provided by a student body known for its creative use of new media to cover in-depth stories. The better the articles in the Spot.Us marketplace, the more publications will go fishing on the site for top-tier investigative pieces.

The startup, founded in November 2008, has already taken root in San Francisco, where 800 users have financially supported 30 long-term reporting projects. With each donation under $100 (in fact the average amount given is $40), Spot.Us resembles a micro-loan broker. Reporters are given small, manageable chunks to get a job done — and once they’ve finished, the money is returned. Of course, contributors can’t make money off the site — the return on investment is technically quality journalism.

Spot.Us is one of several innovative, web-based models being tried out to buoy the ailing journalism industry. With more publications closing their doors (think of the Seattle Post-Intelligence, the Rocky Mountain Daily News and recent others), it’s becoming increasingly hard to find a full-time job as a reporter. Accordingly, the freelance market has swelled, with many independent writers desperately seeking assignments. Sites like ProPublica, founded by former Wall Street Journal executive editor Paul Steiger, have cropped up to serve this content — usually high-quality, long-form investigative pieces that many newspapers can’t afford to work on anymore in-house — to major publications. Spot.Us operates a very similar model to ProPublica, only with a stronger emphasis on local news gathering. Other startups like TipJoy have tried to set up micropayment systems to support reporting — allowing readers to pay small amounts for articles — but so far, they have failed miserably.

Spot.Us appears to be one of the more promising Web 2.0 ideas in this space. As such, it’s received generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation — a formidable force in the journalism world — as well as the Full Circle Fund. The company plans to continue expanding the service to new cities and regions once it gains traction in Los Angeles. It may look for additional partnerships in that area as well. In the past, it has fared well making content delivery deals with local publications like San Francisco Magazine.

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Tags: co:Spot.Us