Posts filed under 'Non-profit'
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By Alexandre Gamela
What do they say it is?
“NewsTrust.net helps people find good journalism online.
Our non-profit, non-partisan project provides quality news feeds, news literacy tools and a trust network to help citizens make informed decisions about democracy.
The free NewsTrust.net website features daily feeds of quality news and opinions, which are carefully rated by our members, using our unique review tools. We rate the news based on quality, not just popularity. NewsTrust reviewers evaluate each article against core journalistic principles such as fairness, evidence, sourcing and context.”
What do I say it is?
It is a social news website. NewsTrust gathers news feeds that are evaluated and ranked by its users, to establish the credibility of those sources. It features blogs, magazines, tvs, radios, all of them scrutinized by regular readers, that assess if Is this good journalism?”
A sort of Michelin guide for news media.
What’s great about it?
Users get the chance to review their news sources, and compare their quality. They input their analysis through a very complete form: it includes rating parameters like trust, fairness, sources and context; there’s also a space to cross reference the news stories with other sources, and users can even leave their suggestions to improve articles, as long they support their ideas with facts.
One of their goals is to fight civic apathy, and making people question what they are being fed to is a good way to do that. The moral principles of NewsTrust are high, and they present themselves as a part of the solution for resolving media/users trust issues.
People in charge of NewsTrust are experienced, reputable professionals, which gives extra credibility to the project.
What could be better?
Not much, but it’s very USA oriented, and that may not be even a downside. It’s still a beta version, though bugs were not found. It all seems transparent and rather simple, really.
How is it going to make money?
In their own words: “Founded in 2005 and based in Mill Valley, California, NewsTrust is a non-profit, non-partisan project funded through grants and private donations and sponsored by The Global Center, an educational foundation based in Manhattan. So far, we have received support from foundations such as the Sunshine Foundation, Ayrshire, Mitch Kapor and Tides Foundations, as well as private donors such as Craig Newmark (Craigslist) and Doug Carlston (Public Radio International). We’re also discussing multi-year funding with several major foundations - as well as partnerships with national news providers. Though we are nonprofit and initially funded through donations, we plan to run the venture as a sustainable business, and to generate revenue in the online market to support this project. Revenue streams include advertising, memberships, licensing and ecommerce.”
Should I pay it any attention?
NewsTrust is a solid project that works both ways: users challenge the quality of journalism being made, and news companies and journalists have a reference to improve and become more trustworthy. It asks both for better readers and better news.
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February 1st, 2008
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What do they say it is?
7iber is an independent web-based citizen-media news outlet from Jordan.”
What do I say it is?
7iber (‘ink’ in Arabic written on a Latin keyboard) are four freelancers that got together to publish English-language content about Jordan. The project relies also on community-generated content, but it feels more like open-minded journalism than “citizen-media”.
What’s great about it?
Just like iNorden, 7iber aims at much more than milking the 2.0 cow. The 7iber team believes in the transforming power of the web and hopes to harness its power to actually change the Jordanian society at large.
What could be better?
7iber wants us to believe it’s “people-powered”, even though it’s written in a language only a minority speaks on a medium only a minority has access to.
Less than a third of traffic actually comes from Jordan. The project represents more of a toy for the elite (and orientalist American kids) and won’t make a difference for the unconnected masses. But it’s worth trying.
How is it going to make money?
Web-based publishing remaining dirt-cheap, 7iber relies solely on the founders’ capital. It might look for advertising dollars but shows no hurry. The dryness of the revenue stream seems not to affect the project, which publishes non-stop since May. Passion is a handy substitute for money.
Should I pay it any attention?
Just wait for the headline ‘Jordan Censors Homegrown CitJ Website’ on your favorite journalism blog. To succeed, 7iber must grow loud enough to bother the local government. Otherwise, it will become a collaborative, loss-making Lonely Planet copycat.
(Btw, Mark Glaser interviewed 7iber’s founder at Mediashift.)
By Nicolas Kayser-Bril
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December 26th, 2007
What do they say it is?
“FreshTies main aim is to encourage individuals, charities and businesses alike to actively participate in their local community. It gives individuals the chance to swap things, find local news and ways to help their community; buinesses the chance to promote their services, news to classifieds and initiatives;charities the chance to reach more people for support, resources and funds. It gives budding journalists/writers in need of experience, and those who would like a higher profile, the opportunity to write about their local community in various roles, as editor, reporter or features writer on local content, as well as content for a national audience.”
What do we say it is?
An interesting up and coming citizen journalism project set up by a former City lawyer, Ashish Poddar, that allows people to write about local issues and topics that interest them. From the information provided on the site it seems that individual writers will have a considerable amount of scope to develop their own stories and ideas and have a real choice in what they write about. An excellent way to gain experience and to participate in your local community at the same time. To access the FreshTies site fully you need to join as a member, which allows you to search for FreshTies members in your area. An individual membership costs £10.00 —- £5.00 of which goes to FreshTies and £5.00 going to a local fund to benefit your community.
What makes it great?
It is a well developed site and the developers obviously believe in what they are doing.
What mistakes are they making?
Although the website is well presented and easy to navigate, there needs to be a clearer explanation of what you can be expected to have access to when you join FreshTies as a member - it doesn’t really specify what is available to you at present which will potentially put some people off from joining.
How is it going to make money?
Freshties is a regulated, not-for-profit organisation, which makes money from its membership fees alone - they use all profits for causes in the community.However, because this is a slightly different take on many of the citizen journalism projects out there already, it provides an alternative for people who want to actively participate in journalistic pursuits. However, without any real advertising, word of mouth is the only way that the site is going to get further publicity. A lot will depend on whether current FreshTies members are happy with the services that they are receiving at present and if they are telling their friends about the site.
Should I pay any attention?
Yes. If you are interested about participating in writing about local community issues FreshTies offers the perfect opportunity to get involved and meet like minded people.
by Melissa Edwards
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December 13th, 2007
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What do they say it is?
“iNorden.org is a joint Nordic citizen journalism initiative inviting bloggers, writers, aspiring and experienced journalists to contribute in the creation of a Nordic news portal.”
What do I say it is?
iNorden is yet another citJ experiment. The difference here is that it’s driven by a sort of pan-Scandinavian post-nationalism rather than profit.
What’s great about it?
Its wide network of semi-professional editors brings cohesion to the nascent community of contributors. A two-tier, pro-am-like structure like this allows for real brand image development while remaining very open to audience-generated content.
A fully grown website running on Wordpress also makes great economic sense (and, incidentally, exemplifies the uselessness of Instant Journalism).
What could be better?
Its much-advertised modesty is palpable in the web0.2 design. The site’s activity suffers, maybe as a result. iNorden ranks 2 millionth on Alexa. (That’s still significant, even when we take into account Alexa’s 110% error margin.)
It needs better positioning, moving further away from traditional, old-media brands to develop its own identity. Looking at the stories in English, it still seems iNorden follows the same leads. Competing with AP isn’t a good idea when you have no capital to start with.
How is it going to make money?
It’s not going to and it doesn’t want to. iNorden is non-profit and proud of it. That gives the brand a lot of credibility at a time where everyone tries to milk users for their content. User experience could very well be enhanced as a result.
Should I pay it any attention?
Yes, if you want to check on the web’s ability to deliver fresh ideas. With all its sincerity and, maybe, naiveté, iNorden’s getting the success it deserves would prove, once again, that the web has crushed the barriers of the offline world.
by Nicolas Kayser-Bril
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December 6th, 2007