When a citizen is curious about something in his or her community, that person can use Spot.us to commission a journalist to investigate and write a story about it. Suspicious that the cops in your precinct are abusing their power? These guys will look into it for you.

The community provides the funding; once a story has been pitched, Spot.Us’ journalists determine how much it will cost to investigate. Microdonations are made by individuals or organizations until the costs are met, then the investigation begins. The story that results is published under the Creative Commons license so anyone can use it

5 Innovative Websites That Could Reshape the News.