YouCommNews was an Australian

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organisation which brought journalists, publishers and the public together for

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

of ideas and resources (including funding) for community-driven journalism. It was founded in 2010 by freelance journalist

Melissa Sweet Melissa Sweet may refer to: * Melissa Sweet (writer), Australian journalist and non-fiction writer *Melissa Sweet (illustrator) Melissa Sweet (born January 1, 1956) is an American illustrator and writer of nearly 100 books for children and young ...

and

Margaret Simons Margaret Simons (born 1960) is an Australian academic, freelance journalist and author. She has written numerous articles and essays as well as many books, including a biography of Senate leader of the Australian Labor Party, Penny Wong and Aust ...

of the Public Interest Journalism Foundation (PIJF), then based at the

Institute for Social Research Institute for Social Research may refer to: * Norwegian Institute for Social Research, a private research institute in Oslo, Norway * University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, a research institute in Frankfurt, Germany * University of ...

of the

Swinburne University of Technology The Swinburne University of Technology (or simply Swinburne) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the Eastern Suburbs Technical College established in 1908, renamed Swinburne ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Its model was based on the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

' organisation

Spot.us Spot.Us was a non-profit organization designed to bring citizens, journalists, and news publishers together in an online marketplace based on crowdsourcing and crowdfunding methods and principles. It was founded in 2008 by David Cohn, who receive ...

. Members of the public could participate either by suggesting ideas for stories they would like a journalist to cover, or by donating money towards a story pitch. Journalists then either suggested a story idea or applied to fulfill an existing idea. Publishers would jointly fund stories or purchase completed stories, with funds reimbursed to donors. The project launched with a story investigating the suspension of a childhood

immunisation Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non-sel ...

program following many instances of childhood febrile convulsions in Australia.

PIJF today

As of 2020, PIJF had evolved into an independent organisation, named Public Interest Journalistic Freedom, which is partially

crowd-funded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

References

External links

*
Public Interest Journalistic Freedom (PIJF)
Crowdsourcing Creative Commons {{Australia-org-stub