ProPublica, the brainchild of former Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger, debuted today, beginning its mission, according to ProPublica.org, to "produce investigative journalism in the public interest."

Steiger and Stephen Engelberg will head the non-profit project, with Steiger serving as  editor-in-chief, president, and CEO, and Engelberg as managing editor. The newsroom will support 27 journalists, whose stories will be offered free of cost to other media outlets. ProPublica will be funded by several philanthropic foundations.

PaidContent.org's Staci D. Kramer labeled ProPublica an "ambitious plan," and worries that the project could actually stifle investigative journalism across the industry.

"The risk, of course, is that ProPublica...could become an excuse for publishers and editors not to support investigative reporting at their own outlets," Kramer writes.

If successful, ProPublica should warrant a closer look at the non-profit model. Though a non-profit newsroom rids newspapers of the burden of generating revenue, the model raises a separate issue: ensuring that a publicly funded operation remains independent and unbiased.

Either way, Steiger's effort is an exciting new venture in journalism.

ProPublica is not the first project to tackle journalism from a different angle. Jay Rosen's New Assignment and Off the Bus are cutting-edge examples of the innovation underway.

Source: PaidContent.org