Project Title:Digi-Dollars: Creating Open Source Local Electronic Currency Software for Advertisers & Contributors
Requested amount from Knight News Challenge:$79,000
Expected amount of time to complete project:1
Total cost of project including all sources of funding:$115,000
Describe your project:Lansing Online News (LON) seeks funding to develop open source software to create Digi-Dollars as a new form of electronic currency that advertisers and contributors can use for local barter. Major corporations would still pay for ads in hard dollars, but local enterprises can instead credit a specific dollar amount of goods and services to their LON account electronically to pay for their ads. On the debit side of the ledger, citizen journalists who contribute will be paid in Digi-Dollars redeemable in goods and services from participating advertisers.
The software will keep a running tally of both the shopkeeper and contributor accounts. If a contributor spends $40 of Digi-Dollars in an upfront online transaction with a participating restaurant, for example, the software records the transaction and sends an automatic email confirmation to both parties. At dinner, the contributor simply shows a copy of the email and personal ID, thereby eliminating the danger of counterfeiting inherent in creating a paper currency.
The new open source software supports creation of new models of economic sustainability for local news start-ups by allowing small businesses to advertise without spending cash, while supporting citizen journalists. Digi-Dollars also has the potential to generate local economic activity by creating a new "currency" that favors spending, not saving. In practice, a struggling local theater group can now "pay" for ads with tickets that might otherwise go unused. In exchange, citizen journalists who might otherwise go uncompensated receive value for their work, exposing them to local businesses. It’s a win for all parties, including the news organization that benefits from the goodwill and from the likelihood of enhanced economic activity in the community.
How will your project improve the way news and information are delivered to geographic communities?Many local news organizations today are struggling to survive. Digi-Dollars offer an alternative to the traditional corporate model, by using local barter to build relationships as much as profits. Advertisers strapped for cash can barter their goods and services. News organizations can use Digi-Dollars to recruit and retain citizen journalists. Digi-Dollars can also reward people willing to provide free workshops to teach citizen journalists how to write and produce multimedia for an online news enterprise.
For some, Digi-Dollars could augment traditional economic models. For others, it may offer a viable model for local news production on its own. For all, it offers a chance to build an enduring economic stream of support for local news
How is your idea innovative? (new or different from what already exists)The idea of creating local currencies to boost local economic activity is gaining attention nationwide, but we are the first to apply the concept to local news. In his book Life, Inc., author Douglas Rushkoff explains how local scrip can benefit communities. The Transition Movement in England supports creation of local currencies as a way to cope with the coming crises of climate change, peak oil and economic instability.
The Digi-Dollars concept uses the power of open source software to keep community news flowing in an economy where hard dollars are scarce. It also seems in concert with the underlying ethos of the Internet and citizen journalism, rewarding community contributions in ways that seem more like a pat as well as a paycheck.
What experience do you or your organization have to successfully develop this project?The Lansing Online News team offers exceptional skills and experience in online journalism and in building the technology to deliver the news online. LON founder Bonnie Bucqueroux is a National Magazine Award winner who became an acknowledged web pioneer. She built her first website in 1996, and it was soon featured on the MSNBC show The Site. She joined the WEBCities training team that criss-crossed the country in 2000 and 2001. She produced the first campaign blog of anyone running for Congress, when she ran as the Green Party candidate in 2000. In 2001, Bucqueroux became webmaster for Polar Trek 2001, which co-hosted live a webcast from the North Pole in collaboration with NASA.
Bucqueroux recently retired from Michigan State University’s School of Journalism to devote herself to building new models of online journalism. She is joined by blog coach Wes Thorp, a former newspaper reporter and the former manager of the State Capitol press corps for almost two decades. The executive team also includes Bill Castanier, an award-wining weekly newspaper editor, advertising and public relations executive, who will focus on advertising and circulation. He has founded Michigan’s first technology association, I-TE@M.
Samuel Rose of Social Synergy Web will develop the open source Digi-Dollars software. Social Synergy works to integrate social software with "open" and collaborative design. Past and current clients include the MacArthur Foundation, Stanford University, USDA and MIT. We believe our team has the capacity to deliver a model that others can employ successfully.
