Announcing the Launch of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund

I'm delighted that today we are launching a new venture -- The Huffington Post Investigative Fund. This nonprofit Fund will produce a wide-range of investigative journalism created by both staff reporters and freelance writers.

As the newspaper industry continues to contract, one of the most commonly voiced fears is that serious investigative journalism will be among the victims of the scaleback. And, indeed, many newspapers are drastically reducing their investigative teams. Yet, given the multiple crises we are living through, investigative journalism is all the more important. As a result, all who recognize the indispensable role good journalism plays in our democracy are looking for ways to preserve it during this transitional period for the media. For too long, whether it's coverage of the war in Iraq or the economic meltdown, we've had too many autopsies and not enough biopsies. The HuffFund is our attempt to change this. It will also provide new opportunities for seasoned journalists who have been laid off or forced into early retirement.

The pieces developed by the Fund will range from long-form investigations to short breaking news stories and will be presented in a variety of media, including text, audio and video. And, in the open source spirit of the Web, all of the content the Fund produces will be free for anyone to publish.

Picture a large pool of reporters -- some on staff, and many freelancers -- proposing stories and also receiving assignments from Investigative Fund editors.

This investigative initiative is being funded by The Huffington Post and The Atlantic Philanthropies, and will be headed by Nick Penniman, founder of The American News Project, which will be folded into the Fund. Nick and I first worked together back in 2000 when we organized the Shadow Conventions to address issues -- poverty, the failed drug war, and money in politics - that neither political party was focusing on. We've stayed in touch ever since, and I am really looking forward to working with him on producing journalism with real impact.

We'll start with a budget of $1.75 million -- and continue to raise funds and expand the project as we move forward.

We are delighted that we will be working on this venture with a number of partners, including the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and NYU's Jay Rosen. This is our second collaboration with Jay, after teaming up to launch OffTheBus, which produced great citizen-powered coverage of the 2008 campaign.

The Fund is ready to interview potential editors and reporters and also to start receiving proposals for investigative projects. The focus at the beginning is going to be on investigating aspects of the economic crisis. So please email resumes and pitches -- as well any ideas and tips you may have about what should be investigated -- to [e-mail].

Comments

[tililek]

Not everyone is online, or wishes to receive their news online, How do they get the news you so nicely wish to broadcast?

I'm online, but prefer hard copy that I can read over coffee, while relaxing. I can think about what I'm reading, make notes in the margin to ask about, or to read up on. Online is nice, but its not all there is.

[bsween]

How about the truth that journalists have become so unprofessional so one sided on both sides they spend more time going after each other than they do investigating the truth they deserve to go out of business its all about rehtoric now so long you wont be missed

[Annie100]

I am so glad the Huffington Post is doing this.
Thank you.

[Wanapitei]

(Continued from previous post)

Nevertheless, such a system are conceivable if there's sufficient vision and determination to see it through.

What are the benefits? Web users supporting the generation of news directly, not unlike the coins they pay at a news stand for a daily paper. Except here the reader is paying for either all of the content or a substantial portion. Advertising is still possible. It's up to the website to discover the right advertising to content mix, just as it is up to them to determine how much content to provide per click.

A balance will be found. The illusion that content is always free will be broken — the illusion on commercial­-supported television, the illusion that newspaper advertising has zero impact on the content, the illusion that all news and comment on the web is always free. Responsibility is returned to the reader and the link between reader and journalist is strengthened.

These concepts deserve a serious hearing and likewise a public response.

Morley Chalmers

[Wanapitei]

(…continued from previous post)

I envision a universal or nearly universal system almost from the beginning. Although there may be no rule mandating a monopoly system, to be successful any micropayment service would need to be broadly available at all kinds of sites. In time some will succeed, others fail, and two or three dominate — like Visa and Master Card, like Google and Yahoo, like PayPal and not-sure-who-else, etc. 



Because the fee-per-click is identical on all clicks it's then up to the website to judge how much content to provide for that standard fee. I could be just a headline, the first section of an article, or the whole of it. By experience the user knows the value of each click.



The obvious problem is prevention of gaming the system. To make such a system functional all players (the end user, the website providing the links and the micropayment service) must be confident of the security. To reduce the volume of traffic (and therefore processing costs) the website may need to establish the current micropayment balance available for the user when they log in. And to aggregate their clicks for the session, forwarding them by an ultra-secure method to the micropayment service for processing. Even still there are potential holes which would need to be plugged and constant monitoring of the system's integrity, such as preventing the websites themselves from padding their clicks. Part of the inevitable overhead.



(Next post…)

[TessyRenberg]

Are you familiar with Dean Baker's idea about Artistic freedom vouchers as an option to solve our copywright problems with downloading? I think some element of that is in your thinking also.

[Wanapitei]

Arianna:

Saw your heavily edited (probably for time) interview with Charlie Rose on funding news links and the heavy lifting of journalism — 8April2009. I was disappointed no one came to grips with the obvious new business model for funding investigative and other journalism on the web — payment by the consumer via micropayments.

Thomas Curley, ceo of Associated Press dismissed micropayments without taking up the issue. I've seen others dismiss it on the web, always without discussing its possible viability and ramifications. In general, all I see are attempts to cling to advertising or subscription models, neither of them particularly successful thus far.

So, I'll answer my own question — what about micropayments?

The model I see as having potential is really a variation on PayPal. The end user subscribes to a service which supports the transfer of a micropayment at the click of a link (always a fixed amount, the same for all links on all site). Always for links where the user is securely logged in. Always for accounts where there is a positive balance; in other words the user must transfer an amount into their "universal" micropayment account before they can begin to click on links.

(Continued in next post.)

[bailout]

In the past, I always dismissed the Huffington Post as just another left wing blog with a liberal agenda, but your coverage of the various bailout plans has won me over. Thank you for being one of the few media sources to honestly focus on this issue. I think you have shown a lot of courage in criticizing the administrations's plans.

Have you spoken to any members of Congress about how dishonest the Giethner PPIP is? Every morning I read something indicating it is worse than I thought., but Congress doesn't seem to care. If you have spoken to any Congressmen about this, I think getting their reaction would make for an interesting post, or series of posts.

As an aside, please see the following link regarding the similarites between the PPIP and the tactics used by Enron to manipulate the energy markets.

http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/banks-as-bidders-and-sellers-financial-nostalgia/

[CosmicChaos]

Thank you for investing in Investigative Journalism. We need Investigative Journalists that not only research the government and business, but Ecological Disasters, science changes that could positively and/or negatively effect us, and situations in other nations.

In my opinion one of the best modern Investigative Journalists is Laura Ling. I have seen several of her Vanguard reports on Current TV. I hope North Korea will release Laura Ling and Euna Lee, because we need these quality journalists.

[neckozihp]

I suggest funding for investigative reporting about the vetting process for POTUS.

[CitizenFarmer]

Will the fund allow focused contributions? I would like to contribute to a specific project to investigate the activities of Soros.

[OkrdSod]

Bravo Arianna, as a Canadian I am in fear of our Prime Minister's efforts to stifle our national broadcaster, the CBC. The CBC is just about the only broadcaster in the country with a broad and unbiased view and the ability to practise investigative journalism.
In any democracy it is essential that the government is held to account. Given the depths of secrecy involved (particularly after enactment of post 911 pseudo-security laws) it is investigative journalist's that we must rely on to undertake this tasks for us.
Please go forth with vigour and integrity.

[vaden111]

As a Canadian I can not believe you investigating? When I read most of the comments, do I have to ask which side your on?? MSNBC, NYT, Arianna, M.Moore supporters by any chance??? I just wish you were more open minded! I adore America. It is truly the greatest country on earth. You people put your country down, most of the time!

[lastpost]

Arianna: “the indispensable role good journalism plays in our democracy”. May I suggest, as a starting point, the taking down of a dictionary from the bookshelf. The blowing off of accumulated dust. Followed by examination of the word “democracy”, inscribed therein. If at least one of a number of discrepancies between that prescribed definition, and what is currently believed to be democracy are not discovered, then I despair of the abilities of the reporter concerned.

[CitizenFarmer]

The United States is a republic, not a democracy. I'd recommend an encyclopedia rather than a dictionary for your research.

[sdbsingle1]

When are Conservatives going to get tired of making a mockery out of 9/11?
They make it look like the Dem. party doesn't know what they're doing, when in fact, the attack happened on the watch of that last guy, who hasn't gotten the respect to even have his name called.

This is a joke, and for anyone to say that we won the so-called "Error on Terror" should re-examine the facts, and come to the conclusion that Sadam Hussein had little, if nothing to do with 9/11, and Bin Laden did, so why are we not utilizing our resources to try and find him?

[PigLipstick]

I was browsing Michael Moore's website today and noticed that he is looking for Wallstreet insider's, and outsiders too, that are willing to feed him juicy tidbits about some of the goings on behind the curtin. Grist for the mill and a new movie he is working on !

With most people on the outside looking in, it's become obvious that the personal invitations to the party are not in the mail; it appears that all the winners were allways RSVP. This should provide the motivation for even the most trusted minion to air all the dirty laundry in public, paybacks a bitch.

Arianna, you go girl !.

[rubinoff]

i would love for someone to investigate the big institutions...we are the people of so many lies...is it any wonder that we function at all....41 years ago, wor was declared on cancer and billions and billions of dollars later, we have more people with cancer than ever before in our history, how's that?....would also like to see the ingredients exposed that go into vaccinations/flu shots,...people would go bonkers if they only knew...it looks like far too many have taken the position, you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours....sigh