Finally One Example of Collaborative Journalism

How will this start changing the game? Josh Korr of Publishing 2.0 reports that about a week ago, four journalists from Washington state began reporting a major local story in collaboration with each other on Twitter. Writes Korr:

Those four journalists weren’t in the same newsroom. In fact, they all work for different media companies. And here’s the best part: Some of them have never even met in person.

Could journalists have discovered the same thing we have also been exploring collectively online? That collaboration strengthens a network and draws more readers, not less. I also agree with Korr that news organizations need to start investing in smart journalists who get the power of cooperation. 

To summarize what these fine professionals did:

1. Acted in real time and focused on the reporting of the events - in line with the Twitter culture of immediacy as well as a sense of urgency for their readers at the respective mastheads
2. Collaborated with each other to cover the story as it was unfolding instead of worrying about the credit - imagine the first cross-news organization team that wins a Pulitzer, now wouldn't that be news? 
3. Provided higher quality news than just one person doing the reporting.

There was some skepticism in the comments to Korr's post. Maybe this is not the first time journalists network for a news story. This collaboration so open on Twitter seems quite novel to me.

I know some of my readers are journalists or are studying journalism. What possibilities do you see with this kind of model? As news media companies struggle to turn a profit, would journalism become disintermediated from the news organization? Clearly at some point, someone needs to earn a salary to make a living. Would such a direction be sustainable?

See also Bradshaw's presentation on business models for news online.

[diagram of networked journalism courtesy of Paul Bradshaw, online journalism blog]