All of the questions enumerated by Lars are exactly on point - and ultimately, I wonder if there is an answer in there that will allow Wikinews to be widely useful. It may be that there isn't, for now, and that it won't be broadly useful as a news source until the dynamics of the online news business changes.
I say useful as a news source because it seems like there may be other positive uses for Wikinews as a project. Our focus with all projects is generating (or collecting) free content in a reusable and easily accessible format - but that doesn't have to be the limit, and over time the Foundation is branching into other niches where we can have a beneficial educational impact outside of our now "traditional" role. There is, for instance, much discussion in the news world about the future of journalism[1] and specifically investigative reporting and the role of reportage in democracy. Wikinews may not be able to play a significant role in developing the future of journalism as a source for news, but I could see it being a significant player as an alternative method of training journalists and as a way to give new journalists experience and exposure in an era of shrinking newsroom budgets. Perhaps the best role for Wikinews in the Wikimedia movement is not in its reporting, per se, but in generating experienced journalists and developing the news field for a post-newspaper future. Nathan [1] As a good example, see Frank Rich's column in the New York Times, "The American Press on Suicide Watch", http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/opinion/10rich.html _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l