Duncan, there seem to be several approaches to this. One is to use JReporter's assignment feature to ask your audience for specific coverage. This engages the audience, assures them that what they contribute is of interest, and gets the media company content which is of interest to them.

A second approach, which were working with for a project in the DC area, is to have the community rates content for both trustworthiness and interest, which in turn ranks the contributor.