Crowdfunded journalism + crowdsourced expertise = ?

This is a small thing now, but could become more interesting in the future. American Public Media (the people behind a lot of the shows you hear on NPR) have a project called the Public Insight Network, which connects journalists with average people who want to share information about their hobbies, passions, or areas of expertise. The PIN is pretty cool and it just acquired Spot.Us—a crowdfunding site aimed specifically at producing high-quality journalism. Like I say, I have no idea where this is headed. But it could be neat. It's definitely a collaboration I'll be keeping an eye on.