Digital SOMA

The innovation in Q&A sites (Hunch, Quora, Mahalo Answers, and now Explain This), says something interesting about the future of media. Reporting and information consumption will become more targeted to demand and more niche.

I think Explain This looks really interesting because it has vetted source providers, something Quora, Hunch, and others lack.  The other ideas are better for-profit ventures, because they offer greater scale and distribution, but ET can more easily become a “trusted source.”

caro:

soupsoup:

studio20nyu:

Studio 20 Director Jay Rosen proposes ExplainThis.org as a way for journalists to answer the public’s questions. From the Poynter Institute:

Rosen has developed an idea that could make journalism better by allowing more people to participate in the process: ExplainThis.

ExplainThis has two parts. One is an open system through which anyone can ask and answer questions and vote on them. The second part involves “journalists standing by.” Journalists would monitor questions, looking for ones that meet three conditions:

• Many people are asking the same thing.
• The question can’t be answered well via search.
• Answering the question would require the work of journalism: investigation and explanation.

Read more here.

This is very exciting.  And much more relevant than shot-in-the-dark evening news stories that claim to be of public interest, like “IS YOUR TANNING BED MAKING YOU FAT???”