Good News: Crowdfunded Journalism

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WWW.GOODCROWDS.ORG

Good News

Grant Application Form

This application is to be used to apply for funding for social impact, journalism

projects through the Good Crowds crowdfunding platform. You can mail the

completed application to [email protected].


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Good News

A MetaGood Project

OVERVIEW

Good News is a project by the MetaGood Trust (www.metagood.org) : a non-profit,

social innovation catalyst founded by IIT & IIM alumni. At MetaGood, we

conceptualize and / or support innovative social impact projects in disciplines such

as technology, arts, journalism, litigation, democracy, education and more.

WHAT IS GOOD NEWS ?

Good News will be the umbrella under which we will fund independent

journalism projects that have demonstrable social impact. Well work with

the independent journalism fraternity in India (and abroad) and will invite them to

submit story pitches. Shortlisted pitches will be put up for funding on Good Crowds the crowdfunding platform that MetaGood has created - where they will get

funded by citizens donating money online.

Through the funds raised, journalists would be able to report on various issues of

social relevance and importance, thus leading to larger awareness and a better

society.
http://www.metagood.org/http://www.metagood.org/


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WHY IS *GOOD NEWS* IMPORTANT

Deep investigative journalism is vital to the healthy functioning of a society.

Unfortunately, over the last few years, journalism has suffered due to multiple

factors.

THE PROBLEM

Ubiquitous information & its Impact on business models: The internet

enables people to publish information and access information through their

browsers. People typically type in keywords in Google and then look at the top

ranked links rather than devotedly following newspapers. Newspapers havent been

able to crack the monetization of their online avatars. News as a paid online servicehas yet to catch on as a trend. This leads to news houses relying on offline modes

for most of their earnings and thats a very precarious spot to be in.

Reduced journalism budgets : Advertisers moving away from print as an

advertising channel. This reduction of budgets leads to a reduction in journalist staff

counts and a reduction in budgets. This leads to many important stories not being

reported on or in sufficient detail.

A consumerist race to the bottom: Most newspapers, in a bid to win market

share, pander to the lowest common denominator. Sizzle over substance is the neweditorial filter. The news as a public good point of view gets completely sidelined;

BBC & NPR being notable exceptions.

Lobbies & conflicts of interest: Many newspapers do not take a genuinely

investigative point of view and present reality through biased glasses, mainly due to

a fear of upsetting advertisers who contribute to newspaper earnings or industry-

wide lobbies and pressures.

FALSE SOLUTIONS

Often, citizen journalism is pointed to as the trend, the rise of which balances the

decline of traditional journalism. Unfortunately, while citizen journalism is extremely

exciting and important and has an important part to play especially, in wide

reporting, in early reporting it cannot replace an experienced journalist who comes

out with a deep, nuanced story after 2 months of traveling all over the country and


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A MetaGood Project

meeting different sources and detailed research. Volunteer citizens simply do not

have the time or the energy to pull off those kinds of stories.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD NEWS

What we need are better funding models for deep journalism. Good News attempts

to harness the collective buying power of citizens to fund important journalistic

stories that matter.


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A MetaGood Project

INVITING STORY APPLICATIONS

Were launching Good Crowds in January 2010 and are now inviting story pitches

from freelance journalists that theyd like to get funding for. You can submit your

story ideas to [email protected] or [email protected] in the format given on the

following page.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING WHILE SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS

1. Some themes that are of interest to us (meant to be a guide and not

restrictive)

a. Climate change

b. Democracy and citizen engagement

c. Consumerism & its costs

d. Sustainable business

e. Inner change in people

f. Social innovation & enterprise

g. Poverty

h. Education

i. Human rights

j. Natural resources: water, oil, forests

2. MetaGood will be releasing these stories under appropriate Creative

Commons Licensing so that they can spread and have maximum impact.

3. We WILL give all credits to the journalist (the byline). You will be free to link tothe story from your websites, resumes etc.

4. Initially, were looking to fundonly those story pitches with a total budget of

less than Rs 1,00,000.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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A MetaGood Project

Please fill in the application form in the format given below and mail it to

[email protected] .
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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A MetaGood Project

APPLICATION FORM

1. Project Title

2. Location Of The Project

3. Brief Summary Of The Story

4. Deliverables

5. Social Impact Through The Story

a. What change can be brought about through this story ?

b. Who are the beneficiaries and what is the nature of the benefit ?

c. What next steps / follow up actions would be required to enable this

impact ?

6. Similar coverage published in mainstream media ?

7. Project Budget

a. Remuneration for your time

b. Travel Expenses

c. Other expenses

8. Timelines

a. Research

b. Interviews / field research / discussions / phone interviews

c. Synthesis


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A MetaGood Project

d. Writing

9. Journalist Details

a. Biography

b. Links to past work


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A MetaGood Project

APPENDIX 3: THE METAGOOD TEAM

Nirat Bhatnagar(Founder): 6+ years of experience in management

consulting, VC funded startups & innovation consulting. IIM Bangalore + IIT

Kharagpur

Babitha George: 7+ years of experience in design-led innovation firms,

FMCG & education consulting. IIM Ahmadabad

Ayush Chauhan: 7+ experience in setting up a design-led innovation firm &

retail banking. IIT Delhi + IIM Ahmadabad


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CONTACT

Nirat Bhatnagar

M: + 91 9899692572

E: [email protected] / [email protected]

W: www.goodcrowds.org / www.metagood.org
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.goodcrowds.org/http://www.metagood.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.goodcrowds.org/http://www.metagood.org/

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Good News: Crowdfunded Journalism