Spot.us, the community funded reporting experiment funded by the Knight Foundation, has officially launched.

The idea behind the site is simple – provide a marketplace for news organisations, reporters and citizens to work together.

A reporter can pitch a story which would be funded by tips from the public. The creator of the site, David Cohn, sees this as a new way to fund local journalism.

Currently the site is focused on the Bay Area in California but the hope is to expand to other cities.

Good luck to the project and all involved.

This introductory video explains how Spot.us works:

[vimeo 2041615]