I really, really like this.
Believe it or not, I was outlining an idea really similar to this to my long-suffering girlfriend when we were in Brussels last week. My idea was to use Drupal to build an online community around different journalistic questions. The one I had in mind was something I've covered previously for The Politics Show - why are poorer people in Scotland less likely than richer people to receive surgical treatment if they suffer from Coronary Heart Disease, even though it's poorer people who are more likely to suffer from the disease in the first place? You can see the figures for yourself here.
It's a really important subject, but it doesn't get a proper treatment in the traditional journalism model.
I did my best to explain it in a five minute telly pack. I got a graphic done showing the differences in treatment rates, I interviewed someone who had received heart surgery about the difference it made to his life, I interviewed a heart specialist. But that was it. It highlighted the issue, which is a good thing, but it didn't kick things on further. It didn't answer the two important questions - why is this happening and what impact is the failure to get access to treatment having on people's lives?
I really like Paul Bradshaw's concept of 'Slow Journalism'. Once you create an online community, 'stories' can bubble away as people get the confidence to tell their own stories and ask their own questions of those in power. (I've put 'stories' in quotes because I'm more and more of the opinion that Kevin Marsh is right and that the story is dead or dying anyroad,
My own idea is that the online community would be backed up by someone doing more traditional types of journalistic storytelling that could be used to hopefully encourage people to join the community, tell their stories and get involved.
That person would also highlight discussions or stories - not as a gatekeeper of information, someone who has all the answers - but someone who encourages people to praise others in the community when they've become active.
Anyroad, I won't be starting anything like that for a good while - if ever. So it's great to see Help Me Investigate getting off the ground. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results.