Spot.Us, the community-funded journalism project born in San Francisco in 2008, has now expanded its coverage to Seattle.

The non-profit project has pioneered “community powered reporting,” allowing the public to commission and support specific investigative journalism stories, as well as participate in some aspects of the reporting. Seattle is the third area to join the Spot.Us network; the organization also operates in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Spot.Us is pairing up with three journalists in the Emerald City, including veteran investigative journalist Rita Hibbard. Hibbard worked for theSeattle Post-Intelligencer for 20 years, and is now editor of Investigate West, a nonprofit organization focused on investigate journalism in the Pacific Northwest and the West.

With Spot.Us’ help, Hibbard and the team at Investigate West are asking the public to fund an investigation about the cruise ship industry in Seattle, focusing on how much waste is produced by cruise ships. The city greets 800,000 cruise ship tourists a year.

Hibbard joined us at SavetheNews.org for a Skype video interview about why new media models are needed, and why including the public in funding, researching and writing the news is renewing her hope in journalism.

Watch the video: