People pay not in the role of subscriber, but as patrons of the news they want to read.

I’m not a fan of citizen journalism, since I don’t want amateurs writing articles. I think news should be written by those that have the training to investigate, write, and behave socially as journalists. But, I think there may be something in citizens funding the media they want. They might be better at saying what articles should exist, and funding it themselves.

For instance, if I wanted an investigatory piece done about military funding in Iraq, I would post, along with an amount I’m willing to pay. Other citizens could contribute. Journalists would write the pieces and submit them into the news site. The site would decide if they were of journalistic quality, and hand over the money to the journalist, making its money on the float. A journalist jobsourcing site, of sorts.

Leah thinks the site won’t work if it’s a website, but there’s potential if it’s printed. She told me about a British Scientific American, or something of the sort, where people write in questions, such as “Why is the sky blue?” and scientists answer. She finds it vastly entertaining.