The newest non-profit news outfit, the D.C. based The Washington Independent, has just launched, the latest experiment in perfecting a non-profit news business model.

The best non-profit formula is still a work in progress, but successful versions tend to blend guerilla and traditional approches to journalism. According to Independent editor Allison Silver, "All informed discussion about the future of journalism involves the non-profit model. This is one reason why so many people are interested in what happens with Poynter and the St. Petersberg paper."

The news comes on the heels of the recent launch of Pro Publica, and the debut last year of MinnPost, both US-based non-profit news sources.

Equiped with top-tier staff boasting resumes including The New Republic and The Financial Times, The Indepenent offers a mix of investigative features, well-researched commentary and bloggy news analysis. It is affliated with The Center for Independent Media.  

Although the new site is still working out some design and technology kinks, Silver is pleased with its progress, less than two weeks after the "semi-hard" launch.

As for entering an already crowded market of sites offering bloggy investigative journalism, Silver sees no problem with the presence of similar sites like The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, and Slate, among others.  

"I think the Net is not about competition, or limitations. It's indeed like democracy—because it's about making the pie bigger," she said.

Source: Online Journalism Review