I was there observing the initial discussions for wikinews. “Does it make sense at all?” “What about reporter bias?” “Why would someone want to visit it when other sites are reporting to-the-minute?” Some of these questions were answered, some were deferred (the voting page wasn’t exactly a mess). It has evolved since then.
I found NewAssignment.net today. First glance, First thought - how is this different from wikinews?

Then, I read through the introductory article on Jay Rosen’s PressThink site. The difference became clear. To quote from the article: “The site uses open source methods to develop good assignments and help bring them to completion; it employs professional journalists to carry the project home and set high standards so the work holds up. There are accountability and reputation systems built in that should make the system reliable. The betting is that (some) people will donate to works they can see are going to be great because the open source methods allow for that glimpse ahead.”

Interesting.

Jay followed the article with “Some Problems with New Assignment.net” and “How Realistic is NewAssignment.net“.

Jay listed the points made by others, and I agree with these two in particular:

1. The system creates perverse incentives for reporters. Future funding for will depend on “delivering the story promised” as against what the reporter found, which “makes agreeing with the perspective of the funders more important than telling the truth.” (Ratcliffe)
2. A story’s “worth” cannot be judged ahead of time. Ratcliffe: “No one knows what an important story is until after it has been reported, therefore you have to trust the judgment of someone who will occasionally ignore the wisdom of the crowd and go somewhere unexpected or unwanted.”

There has been a lot more discussion on these (read Mitch Ratcliffe’s subsequent post).

Overall, I’m both skeptical and excited at the prospect of this idea. The ongoing discussions are constructive - that’s a good sign. Will post more later with my opinions.

[tags]NewAssignment, journalism[/tags]

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