None of this is about charity to the Times – it is about figuring out how to make journalism more participatory. But doing so means the public is going to get involved.

Spot.Us looks a lot like charity – because people are donating to journalism, but that is just a very basic means for people to get involved in journalism. Some people don’t have time to do the digging themselves so to get involved they can donate $10 to help pay for somebody that can do the digging.

Meanwhile others will want to get involved by donating time (not money). Spot.Us is looking into ways to organize those kinds of donations too.

Essentially: Journalism needs collaboration – but that means journalism needs an engine that can organize those collaborations. The easiest types of collaboration to organize at first, I believe, are financial donations – since they are quick and nobody can argue at the merit/use of money.

But how else can the public get involved?

That’s where chin scratching comes in……..

The Times should consider a new corporate motto: “To organize the news and make it universally accessible.” That’s WGWD… This is simply a twist on the existing motto: “All The News That’s Fit To Print.” Rather than just printing the news that Times writers have produced, a New York Times built for today’s world would really seek to print” *all* the news that is *fit* to print and it would seek to make that news universally accessible.

I’m not arguing that the Times should simply become a mindless aggregator of news in the manner of the various algorithm based systems like DayLife or the offerings of major search providers who seek to publish or link to “All the news there is…” — no matter what its quality. Rather, a new Times would focus on selecting from the myriad of sources of good journalism, on training journalists, on setting standards, assigning stories, etc. Like an aggregator, the new Times would seek to provide a comprehensive news experience that would satisfy the basic news needs of virtually anyone in at least the US. Even hyperlocal news from North Dakota should fit in a new Times — if the local North Dakotan news bureau produces content that meets the editorial standards established by the Times.

The key market value of the New York Times is Its reputation — built on the quality of its editorial staff and its ability to select high quality journalists. However, in an Internet world, the Times can’t hope to cover any but the most important stories with the tiny staff that it has. If it can learn to apply its editing and news organizing skills to a broader community, it should be able to attract a vastly larger and more appreciative audience — and then monetize that audience.

bob wyman