With the economic crisis forcing journalists out of the newsroom, these entrepreneurs found new ways to practice serious journalism in a somewhat economically sustainable way. Check it out:
Spot.us:
http://spot.us/
http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/recycling-design-technology/spotus-environmental-journalism-461108
Voice of San Diego:
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/
I believe that both co-ops and non-profits that embrace the mission of providing serious, accurate and non-partisan reporting may become the future of investigative journalism. Especially when we talk about specialized coverage, like environmental journalism. These approaches become even more appealing for they provide the kind of information that is absolutely needed in different communities at the same time that they are more flexible-as business structure-and less dependent on profit margins. It’s easier to sustain a newsroom when you need only to cover costs and build a reserve for expansion or for difficult times, but not forcing profit margins beyond sustainable limits.
Other possible business model is on-demand community news, keeping a very small staff; however, it's much more difficult to maintain a specialty in this model. Usually, the reporter will cover anything that the community thinks it’s appropriate. Also, because it depends heavily on local business support, it may not allow for complete independent reporting.
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