Not-for-Profit Journalism

A friend turned me on to this notion of not-for-profit journalism. So I registered with Pro Publica and read the extensive 'About Us' description.

I applaud their goals and focus in this age where newspaper business models are collapsing in the face of online distribution of information and precipitous loss of advertising. No bailout for news media...First Amendment protections doncha know.

However, I think Pro Publica should add to their currently targeted areas of business and government the powerful domain of "special interest groups." Surely some of them are funded by and represent business, but many others have scale and support to influence policies and national well-being.

Examples of groups in this category are ACLU, Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, NAACP, immigrants rights organizations, ACORN, various think tanks, e.g., Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Brookings Institution, Hoover Institution, veterans groups, AARP, etc., etc.

These 'powerful influencing organizations' should also be subject to investigative journalism when/if warranted. I look forward to the work of Pro Publica and wish them great success! This may be the evolving journalism model. I encourage you to read their "About Us" section. It provides an extensive description of their goals and methods