The report 'In Search of Non-Toxic Housing for Health's Sake' by journalist Toula Mantis is the first instalment in a series of 10 articles looking at sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
According to the site, $878 (AUD) was raised to fund the series from 17 donors with contributions ranging from $5 to $100. The story was originally pitched by Mantis, who gave $108, back in August and has been published under a Creative Commons Licence to encourage reproduction by other news organisations and websites.
YouCommNews was launched in September by Swinburne University's Public Interest Journalism Foundation. It is based on the US startup Spot.us model, where story ideas are pitched and a target for funding is set to be raised by donations from readers and the wider community.
It is one of three projects being developed by the foundation, which was set up in 2009, to explore new technologies and business models for journalism.
"An initiative such as YouCommNews provides the opportunity for journalists to get back to the basics. They can get stories that are relevant to everyday readers without having to jump hoops to meet stakeholder interests before getting published," says Mantis in a release from the University.
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