Melbourne, Australia. - Getting public funding for news stories is a novel idea in the world of news producers who have traditionally relied on advertising sponsorship to pay for their business costs. In Australia, Swinburne University is currently experimenting to see whether or not social media can fly with just community sponsorship.
First Australian Story
Its first published story to be funded by the community hit the Internet earlier today titled, "In Search of Non-Toxic Housing for Health's Sake". It covers the plight of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) sufferer, Katherine McIntosh, who has been left effectively homeless due to the life-threatening symptoms she experiences from being sensitive to chemicals. This story is part of a series aimed at covering 10 personal stories of the most common problems faced by CFS sufferers.
Second in the World
This experiment in social media by the Melbourne-based university is the second in the world given that it is modelled on the US-site "Spot.Us". The site has been dubbed, "YouCommNews".
