David Cohn doesn’t look like the new face of journalism. He’s boyish, with an untamed mop of black curls and a stubbly beard: Picture a darker Mark Zuckerberg, but more stylishly dressed.
It’s early in the morning when Cohn comes to talk with our class about Spot.Us, his three-year-old experiment in crowdfunding journalism, but he thrums with energy. If I had to pick one word to describe Cohn, I’d say ‘caffeinated.’ Or ‘bright-eyed.’ Or maybe even ‘feverish.’ You get the idea. Cohn’s passionate about his experiment, and it shows.
I’d heard of crowdsourcing before (Wikipedia), and even crowdfunding (my husband and I registered at the microlending site Kiva.org for our wedding), but crowdfunding journalism was a new idea for me. It probably shouldn’t have been; Cohn’s website, Spot.Us has been matching freelance reporters with funding for three years.
But he’s the first to admit that he didn’t invent the concept of donating to journalism: People have been contributing to NPR for decades. The difference is the level of transparency.
“When you donate to NPR,” he said, “You cover your eyes, throw money over a fence, and hope that it goes towards good journalism.”
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