Spot.Us in the New York Times – Not “Victory” by any means – but kinda cool

I woke up Sunday morning, checked twitter and was instantly referred to a New York Times article “A Different Way to Pay for the News You Want.”

It seems Spot.Us became the focus of an article that, from my understanding, was originally supposed to be about the concept of “crowdfunding.” Perhaps Spot.Us was a fresher angle? Either way – it certainly was nice to see the New York Times take notice of my little startup.

While it’s very cool and welcomed – I don’t want to start patting myself on the back. In truth – I would have preferred this article not come out for another few (4-6) months. The fact is – Spot.Us is still in a nascent stage. We have small victories – but nothing to celebrate overtly yet.

Recently I read a great article about Adrian Holovaty and his esteemed work ethic. I’ve met Adrian a few times now and while I disagree with his geographic potshots at Silicon Valley, I do agree with his sentiment. Glitz and glamor doesn’t = success. It’s a distraction. I see it effect tech bloggers all the time, as they try to reach internet rock star status. That becomes their end goal instead of just providing good content.

In the past I’ve earned kudos as “the hardest working young man in journalism.” That came out of my experience while working on Assignment Zero (I was a grad student and working around the clock on that project). I intend to keep that status – because it will only be through hard work that spot.us amounts to anything.

Spot.Us will not succeed through any amount of attention from old media (which in itself adds to this weird watching ourselves die coverage). Nor do I want spot.us tied to my success. I would love it if Spot.Us moves forward and I receive little or no recognition while it grows.

Spot.Us has the potential help the greater good – to empower communities to take control of the media themselves. But the only way we’ll get there is if the extended spot.us team keep our heads down for the next two months. Right now we are still slated for an October launch (public or private is undecided).

After we’ve funded the SF Election Truthiness Campaign and published the Northern California Ethanol story – That’s the next milestone.

A note on the article itself:

• I tend to not use the Obama/Dean analogy for a few reasons. This reporter was good – and kept me talking until eventually I used it. Kudos to her.
• Yes – the grant is for $340,000. For those that think I’m now rich – think again. I’m actually paying myself VERY little on purpose.
• I love the phrasing of this “if a neighborhood with an agenda pays for an article, how is that
  different from a tobacco company backing an article about smoking?” – Well, neighborhoods tend not to agree on anything – if an entire neighborhood agrees that an issue needs to be investigated, I think any news organization would be remiss not to go forward with it.

ONWARD!!!!