In his second Q&A about his new venture in collaborative journalism online, Jay Rosen responds cogently to my suggestion here that when readers become sponsors of investigative journalism they sometimes end up unhappy with the outcome:
Guidelines at New Assignment will make it clear what is and is not kosher in accepting donations. But mostly it would be common sense. If you take money from someone who knows what the story is—before the reporting—and who only wants validation… expect problems….
For New Assignment to work, donors can’t have an editorial say greater than anyone else’s. They explicitly sign it away as a condition of giving the money. Those who expect outsized influence will be disappointed after one experience. Would they return for more? Besides, management has a policy: no refunds.
I think Jay has a pretty good grasp of what he’s after here when he talks about “good editors” being the heart of the answer to the problem. And I agree. But note that in this new world being a “good editor” involves some significantly greater political leadership, by which I don’t mean “involvement in parties and elections” but the more generic, abstract kind of politics — the mustering and deployment of power through the creation of consensus among competing interests and diverse people. Jay quotes one of his correspondents, Daniel Conover:
In a system like what Jay proposes, a NewAssignment editor would be in constant communication with the participants. Rather than being neutered by an opaque hierarchy, this editor would be empowered by the broad base of integrity-seeking NewAssignment participants. How are those participants going to react if the editor reports a pressuring phone call from a wealthy donor?
The trick is, for the editor to draw power from that base, the editor has to stay in constant contact with its interests. Assuming that the larger NewAssignment community will often be in various levels of conflict and competition, we’re talking about some very heady relationships, being acted out in the Great Wide Open.
In other words, the editor’s job at NewAssignment is going to be as much about managing online community as about assigning stories, editing copy and mentoring reporters. That’s a demanding, but certainly not impossible, pile of responsibilities. Rosen cites the formidable example of Josh Marshall’s work at Talking Points Memo as a sign that it can indeed be done.
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