The new Center for Investigative Reporting-backed California Watch site is an ambitious and, by virtue of its commitment to providing resources for readers’ own investigations, a particularly reporter-friendly nonprofit news site. Unlike many of their peers, they’re looking toward a syndication-based funding model and seem ready to try just about anything.
This spirit of openness is evidenced by reporter Christina Jewett’s list of story ideas, which include meaty standards (hospital finance, aging population) and a slightly less-covered story (problems with the child welfare system), as well as the health subject page, where Jewett is fairly open about what she’s working on, as well as what she’s reading. All-in-all, the site uses a careful balance of self-promotion and transparency to create a compelling news destination.
