San Fran non-profit news org a unique model

A San Francisco venture capitalist has coughed up $5 million and joined forces with a public radio station and Berkeley’s j-school to start a new, local news website, The New York Times reports.

The three parties joining forces makes for a unique model for a non-profit journalism outfit. The Times report notes:

“What sets their venture apart is a $5 million initial grant from F. Warren Hellman, and the expertise and labor to be supplied by KQED-FM, which has a 28-person news staff, and the 120 students of the University of California, Berkeley’s graduate school of journalism.”

The journalism students at the University of California, Berkeley’s graduate school of journalism had already been working on similar projects by creating local news sites. The school’s dean, Neil Henry, told the Times:

“Our students are out covering city halls and police and courts, and they rarely see any other reporters.”

The site has not yet been named, but the project is set to be launched early next year. A staff will be hired, but the number of employees required is still unclear.