As recently as five
years ago the story by Toronto Star reporters that they had seen a
video purporting to show the city's Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack with a drug
gang would have likely sold a lot of newspapers for a few weeks, and been
followed by a protracted trial and judicial process. Published in May 2013,
those claims have resulted in a media-led public campaign to gain possession of
the evidence from the gang itself. To sayGawker's cheekily titled Crackstarter crowdfunding campaign muddies the waters
of judicial inquiry is an understatement -- some suggest that the case is an
example of crowdfunding spinning out of control. But is this a story about
crowdfunding, or journalism?
HOW CROWDFUNDING
COMPLICATES THINGS
On the other hand,
this is a story that is complicated by crowdfunding, for two reasons.
Firstly, because the
fundraising is being done in public, with a specific target in mind, it amounts
to a ransom note with a big opportunity for brinkmanship attached to it. With
Gawker lobbying to reach their $200,000 target, the gang allegedly holding the
video has little reason to accept a lower offer than that. It leaves little
room for negotiation by investigators who may be trying to obtain evidence
without pulling out their checkbooks. The urgency and goal setting that make
many crowdfunding campaigns attractive and capable of precipitating action feel
awkward and highly problematic when employed for these reasons.
Let's also note that
crowdfunding campaigns are increasingly prone to being "overfunded,"
sometimes passing their target several times over. Several campaign organizers
I've spoken to have suggested that this is an outcome they strategically design
for, setting the fundraising goal lower to ensure that a campaign reaches its
target, enjoys the publicity associated with that success, and can then market
for further funds by promising additional rewards. There's nothing to suggest
yet that Gawker is considering that path, but the gang may have an opportunity
to hold out for more.
Secondly, the ethics
of giving to a gang who may or may not deliver something authentic, let alone
of some value to the public interest or the judicial process raises the
troublesome "F" word for crowdfunding -- fulfillment. IndieGoGo
currently offers no mechanism for authenticating the products and campaigns
that use its platform to fundraise. This is a tough problem to resolve, but
it's also an important one. Specialized crowdfunding platforms are trying. The
recently launched Crowdsupply,
aimed at small-scale makers, offers a suite of services around manufacturing
and fulfillment to ensure that projects on the site get made on time and to
spec. In the civic crowdfunding space, Spacehive worked with Deloitte to
design a contractual framework for the completion of projects in the built
environment. We've yet to see a severe test of either framework, but they are
valuable first steps. View Full Story
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