Big News for New Assignment: Reuters Gives $100K
Posted by Jay Rosen on September 20, 2006
I announced today at PressThink and the Guardian’s blog, Comment is Free, that Reuters is giving $100,000 to NewAssignment.Net. The money will underwrite the costs of hiring our first editor, who will start in early 2007. There’s reaction already from USA Today’s tech blogger, Angela Gunn.
It’s heartening to see one of the old-line news organizations put up some funding for this thing. Believe me, all but the most head-in-sand among us journalist types know our industry’s got to change. A lot of us are looking forward to it — it’s an exciting time to be telling the news and the possibilities are invigorating, if you’re not scared to death (and sometimes even if you are). But journalism, like too many other industries, is in many respects too hidebound to generate revolutionary change from within…
Which has something to do with this grant, I’m sure.
From Editor & Publisher’s coverage:
Reuters says it will have no editorial control over the site’s projects, and it will not hold right of first refusal for any of the stories that the site is covering.
We felt it was best to keep it clean.
Jason Boog at The Publishing Spot: “In the surprise marriage of the year, a big time newswire just hooked up with a band of citizen journalism upstarts….”
Here’s paidcontent.org’s coverage.
Oompa Loomp said
Not to be a downer but if competition heats up enough it seems inevitable that readers will demand that news sites only generate revenue through anonymous donations.
If the journalists find out about some hypothetical BBC malfeasance they might be reluctant to report on it.
Rob Barry said
Newspapers take money every day from many different *very public* sources: it’s generally called advertising!
Starked SF, Unforgiving News from the Bay » Blog Archive » Local VC Dough Flow, Bro said
[…] It’s not based in the Bay Area, but Jay Rosen’s NewAssignment.net got some kablingi from Craig Newmark before the $100K Reuters kicked in. […]
Dan T said
I just wanted to say congratulations. I look forward to seeing what this site can accomplish in the future. I will have my bookmark set.
Elle Jaye said
Congratulations on setting this up.
Can’t wait to see where this heads as an alternative to lazy “news” from allegedly balanced media organisations.
Power to you.
A Contribution to the Great Debate said
Open source journalism – what for?
Reuters has just given $100,000 to a new start-up that promises ‘Open-source journalism’. It’s called Newassignment.net, and it wants to:
…spark innovation in journalism by showing that open collaboration over the Internet among…
Maurreen Skowran said
Grant source possibility: You might have already seen this, but the Knight Foundation plans to give up to $5 million for project that show how online news can transform community life.
Maurreen Skowran said
Oops, I forgot the URL: http://www2.knightfdn.org/newschallenge/home.html#home.
Thierry Noisette said
For your information, I’ve just published (in French):
NewAssignment, projet de journalisme “open source” soutenu par Reuters
http://news.fr/actualite/medias/0,3800002047,39363848,00.htm
about the project. Which, for free lance journalists as well as for netizens, sounds very interesting.
reoas said
Test said
Hi all!
G’night