(IMHO – ProPublica could use a bit of a push. Love what they do, but I want to see more!)

I may be reading it wrong, but it seems, to me at least, that one could read my quote and come to the conclusion that I’m challenging the premise of the organization. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I gave my quote in the context of how helpful it would be for small organizations like mine to be part of a larger collective because, for Texas Watchdog, foundation funding seems fairly fickle.

I am hoping that being part of a larger group for us means more ideas, more business models and diverse ways to fund our work.

If I was misunderstood by the reporter, I apologize. If I’m reading too much into this, I apologize as well. (Also, just so you all know, my irony alarm is going off in my head… isn’t it like a journalist to quibble about how he was quoted!)

But a couple of concern for this new network, which comes down to one single question: Who’s in it?

I’m very concerned that their definition of investigative reporting are leaving out some of the most respected and important media outlets in the country, including Mother Jones and The Nation Institute. Also–are they taking into account new models of investigative journalism ranging from the Center for Independent Media to Talking Points Memo to individual bloggers who engage in critical investigative reporting? This is not because I think every network has to be inclusive, but because these other organizations are a balance of critical long-term investigative media institutions and reporting models that are breaking new ground.

Which leads me to my second point of “Who’s in it?” I was concerned when I saw the list of attendees at the meeting that there was little to no knowledge in the room about the future of journalism–including first-hand knowledge of new models, experiments, what’s coming down the pipeline. It’s very easy to dismiss who the founding partners of a network are because the obvious answer is, “We’ll expand. We’ll deal with it later.” Well, if you are a group of individuals from one set of expertise (the newspaper business or who run non profit investigative shops, but not daily media outlets) or who lack diversity (gender, race, economic background) your sense of what a network needs to accomplish and how to do it is greatly skewed from reality and lacks this important insight. The Media Consortium had this problem when it first formed and it took some time to rectify it.

I look forward to seeing how NINN answers these issues and to seeing what it can accomplish. The Media Consortium is focusing much of its energies this year and next in supporting quality investigative reporting and collaborations among our members and allies. We are also looking into creating spaces to allow our members to innovate, experiment and succeed in a 21st century media environment. When they are ready, we invite the Nonprofit Investigative News Network to join forces, for the betterment of all quality journalism, in accomplishing these goals.