Daniel Bachhuber, Executive Director, CoPress

http://generalapp.newschallenge.org/SNC/ViewItem.aspx?pguid=4b47516e-497b-426d-98b4-7f04c60413e5&itemguid=33cebf50-84ac-4dbd-bea2-212abd45c276

Our successful neighborhood-news service evolved in a way that gave us no chance to ever put it forward as a proposal – it grew out of a conventional “blog” – but while we are doing quite well with what we do now, there are so many other things I would like to add, to expand to … but they require capital … 3 to 6 months of a developer’s time, perhaps, for example.

While programs like this are always barking after the next shiny new idea to race down the track, I propose there is something to learn from some of us out here who blundered into success … and something to be gained by offering some help.

Since we’re not creating fancy new techy tools to share with the world, we don’t get the zillion-dollar VC attention, but I suggest there could be value to helping some of us who “are” doing something grow, rather than bestowing all the attention and cash onto the next group of people who “might” be able to do something.

Just a thought of what might be worth considering, if the pool of these bright shiny new ideas is truly shrinking.

Thanks for the details re: NYTimes. I don’t see why these organizations couldn’t have pooled their money to build this if it’s so important to them, but what’s done is done.

Also, I asked Gary Kebbel of Knight why CoPress wasn’t chosen. He said (reasonably, I think) that he couldn’t discuss that with me, but said he would be happy to talk with someone from CoPress about it.

1. Is the Gotham Gazette’s local wiki idea SO good that it deserved to become the first and only repeat winner in the only program that funds journalism startups? Were the other ideas really so bad that the committee felt justified in giving a quarter of a million dollars to a program that’s already received that much? What happened to the first grant anyway? How successful could it have been if they were back asking for money again?

2. What’s the real scoop with the ASU project? Did they simply have a solid idea at the right price point? I know ASU has been trying to position itself as a destination for new media journalists and a thought leader in the “field.” Was this award a paeon to their efforts? Did the school play a part in helping these two? I ask because its curious that their ASU alumni ties would be so prominently mentioned in the coverage of them I’ve seen today. Who cares where they went to school….other than ASU?

I have no idea why they didn’t pick your CoPress effort, but I wonder whether the problems facing college news rooms are really all that big a deal at the end of the day. When you have a choice between funding an effort that promises to wire up or connect an African village and one that promises to make it easier for upper middle class americans to write stories about their classmates…well, that’s probably an easy decision for the journalists on the panel to make.

You may have a solid business on your hands, just maybe not a project that will catch the eye of this particular crowd. Who knows. Good luck to you!

Ask them why CoPress wasn’t funded.