Spot.us has made a lot of noise in media reports about the state of the media, of late. And if you’re not familiar, it’s a non-profit organization which helps freelance journalists crowd-fund stories and then publishes them under Creative Commons licenses. It’s an interesting model, and certainly something which all future journalists should be considering using, especially for investigative stories which will take a fair amount of resources.

Today, I was made aware of an even more dynamic (though somewhat riskier) approach to journalism in the era of the dying newspaper. Journalist Paige Williams wrote a magazine story on Dolly Freed and pitched it to various outlets. After enough rejections, she decided to publish it for free and ask for donations from people who enjoyed it, hence, the idea of Radiohead journalism. So far, she’s recouped about a fifth of her expenses, though, I’m optimistic that as the story of the story makes it’s rounds, she will continue to receive more donations.

I’m not exactly sure what the lesson is, beyond the fact that as young journalist/storyteller/creator in this changing media landscape, you have to take risks.

via Romanesko