Last month, David Bauer posted "An unfinished list of ventures in journalism you should be watching (and why)", an extended consideration of "what", "why" and "where" to find 38 new-media efforts. As the title suggests, Bauer is treating the post as a work in progress. Readers have already suggested another 17 companies to add to his list.
There's a lot to like about Bauer's unfinished list. He looks globally, featuring companies operating in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. He also goes well beyond the usual suspects, featuring startups in data journalism (Ampp3d, Journalism++) and local interest (Narratively) as well as hard paywalls (Mediapart) and "news as a process" (OnOn.at).
Bauer's perspective is potentially useful (and sobering) for publishers (and consultants) who are looking for "the" answer:
Given the speed of technological change and the complexity of what is now the media landscape, it’s unlikely we’ll ever find a model that will work for more than a few years for more than a few publishers. The hype around native advertising or metered paywalls is primarily a manifestation of the hope for silver bullets. There will have to be lots of experiments.
In a generous move, Bauer posted his entire list on Github and invited comments, edits and enhancements. Take a look and see if there are any companies you think he should add. The first 55 (including reader suggestions to date) are a good start, and I am sure there are more worthy experiments to watch.
