American Public Media has acquired pioneering community funding website Spot.Us, and will incorporate it into the Public Insight Network (PIN) crowd-sourcing platform. The combination lays the foundation for a networked approach to sourcing and funding high-quality journalism that will help newsrooms and journalists gather the resources and insights they need to do great reporting.
"Spot.Us and PIN both believe in the power of the independent voice in journalism – from both journalists and sources, making the acquisition an ideal move," said Joaquin Alvarado, senior vice president of digital innovation at APM. "PIN believes in the important work of Spot.Us and we will explore opportunities to continue to drive the effectiveness and relevancy of the site even further in the future."
"We couldn’t be more excited about joining forces with the Public Insight Network to change the way journalism is both funded and reported," said David Cohn, founder of Spot.Us. "Combined, we have a real opportunity to be a positive force, paving the way for journalism to be truly public from the ground up."
Spot.Us was founded in 2008, making this November the 3-year anniversary. Launched by David Cohn with technical help from Erik Sundelof, Spot.Us was made possible with $340,000 in seed funding from the Knight Foundation through the Knight News Challenge, an international contest to find innovative, digital ideas for delivering news and information. The Knight Foundation also supported the Public Insight Network with a grant in 2008.
Spot.Us gives the public the opportunity to fund important journalism that is then distributed by newsrooms around the country. Community members can also take surveys from site sponsors to earn credits they can use to support the story of their choice. Spot.Us has also drawn on support from individual funders, a network of advisors, designers and developers.
