Futurismic has posted about the latest in the ongoing death spiral of old media journalism (by which everyone really means American journalism) which is, the idea of Arianna Huffington starting a foundation to fund proper investigative journalism. While the motive seams laudable in the abstract, I kind of fail to see the difference between this and Rupert Murdoch starting a newspaper. The only wrinkle I see is that the “investors” are sinking money without expecting a return, and while that might be a more realistic expectation (especially given the historic performance of news ventures aligned with Huffington’s political views, just sayin’) I don’t necessarily see how a cadre of journalists beholden to a clique of wealthy donors will necessarily serve the public any better than a like cadre beholden to the marketplace. However, I do think that a group of non-profit, donation funded journalists is a hell of a lot better than either now journalists at all, or those run by the state, which are our two other options should no one find a for-profit business model that does the same thing.
My only worry is, if the idea catches on as the salvation of journalism, it will likely see the power of the press concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. (But that was happening anyway, oh well.)