About Time Journalism Got Real !!! - 'Haters Gonna Hate... But I LOVE THIS !!!'

[WillyT]

Pierre Omidyar, Investigative Journalism’s New Patron Saint
The Iranian-American founder of eBay plans to sink millions into a new investigative media project with journalist Glenn Greenwald. Friends and employees tell Lloyd Grove his big move into media is driven by his passion for American democracy.


Pierre Omidyar, backer of a new investigative journalism outlet in partnership with Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who first published the documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. (Brian Harkin/Getty)

More than anything else, eBay founder Pierre Morad Omidyar—who is ready to plow as much as $250 million of his nearly $9 billion fortune into an as-yet-undefined journalism venture—has impressed colleagues and acquaintances with his refreshingly modest personal style. “He’s a very normal person,” says New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen, who interviewed the press-shy Iranian-American about his plans to join forces with lawyer-turned-investigative reporter Glenn Greenwald, the impresario of the Edward Snowden revelations in Britain’s The Guardian, to create a major media enterprise from the ground up.

And...

Kirkpatrick, who usually runs into Pierre and his wife and fellow philanthropist Pamela in New York during the Clinton Global Initiative at their annual September cocktail party—“hundreds of the most earnest do-gooders that the world can offer up”—adds: “He doesn’t take himself too seriously. He genuinely views this extraordinary windfall he received from eBay as a gift he has to bear responsibility for, and not just act like a rich guy. He’s not into conspicuous consumption. He has a nice house in Hawaii, and probably a few others, but he’s not the kind of guy who’s going to be sailing around on a 350-foot yacht.”

And...

Omidyar’s extensive philanthropic and investment activities are consistent with his avowed goals of solving public policy problems through innovation, citizen engagement, personal empowerment and holding politicians accountable. He’s had skin in the news game at least since he launched Civil Beat in 2010. And while Bezos, as Amazon’s CEO, is fully engaged with running his business empire, Omidyar is eBay’s chairman—meaning he has zero day-to-day duties.

And Finally...

All of which raises a skeptical journalist’s question: Isn’t this guy too good to be true? John Temple, for one, insists Omidyar is the real deal. As the son of two people who left a country riven by political oppression and religious fanaticism, “he really believes in the American Constitution and wants to see it upheld and the promise of America fulfilled. He is an immigrant and, like many of us in journalism, part of his motivation is he cares about the quality of our community and our country and thinks that journalism has a role in setting the tone. And he’s passionate about that.”

Link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/18/pierre-omidyar-investigative-journalism-s-new-patron-saint.html

Background...

Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras Teaming Up With Glenn Greenwald On New Media Venture
Michael Calderone - HuffPo
Posted: 10/16/2013 9:36 am EDT | Updated: 10/17/2013 8:05 am EDT

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/glen-greenwald-media_n_4107289.html

[WillyT]

1. Kick !!!

[Benton D Struckcheon]

2. Pro Publica already exists

He could work with them instead of reinventing the wheel.

[WillyT]

3. The More The Merrier... No ???

[bahrbearian]

4. 2 is too many? I think 200 might be about right .

[WillyT]

5. Kick !!!