Nicholas Kristof is trying an interesting experiment: he’s letting people remix his reporting.

Previously, I written about the ethical obligation of not explicitly allowing news content remix because of the risk of changes that alter facts or context. Kristof’s experiment strikes me as a bit different though.

First, he’s starting with a body of work on a single subject. There is a lot of material available for would-be editors to choose from. Second, it’s a specific project with potentially many editors, so readers/viewers can sort out later what is authentic and what is propaganda (if any comes out of it), and along with that, the original material is still easily accessible.

Jarvis recommends that the NYTimes take down the pay wall to really make this experiment work. He’s right of course, but I also think Kristof should go a step further, and make the best of his unpublished material available.