Spot.us works -- but needs work.

A Los Angeles Times columnist looks at the success of spot.us and declares that the pay-for-reporters site actually is working, sort of. According to media columnist James Rainey, the site has posted six stories in its three months, with six more in the works. The way the site works is this: journalists propose a story and wait until enough contributions come in to pay the price the journalists ask to research and write it. Rainey likes the idea, but says the execution should have been better. The four stories he said he checked out "did not particularly engage, incite or entertain." Still, it's another media experiment.