"Even as the old 'That's the way it is' model of mass media is increasingly tested by the Web, there are interesting experiments under way that show how far-flung, yet important, issues like marine pollution can still be covered effectively. One surfaced today in a Science Times article by  Lindsey Hoshaw, known on Twitter as  @thegarbagegirl. The feature is an up-close examination of the  Pacific Ocean's vast patch of plastic flotsam, reported with travel funds provided by readers of Spot.us.

This young online enterprise essentially  aggregates 'pitches' by journalists for money to help pay the costs of reporting on issues that might not otherwise get coverage. There have been discussions about a trend toward 'cloud journalism' in which a community rich in mobile phones and Twitter accounts gives an overview of big events, but this is 'cloud financing' of journalism."

Andrew C. Revkin reports in his Dot Earth blog for the New York Times November 10, 2009. [2]

See Also:

"Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash" (New York Times) [3]