The Post-Chronicle is a wiki that's building a model for the daily news organization of the future. It began as a response to the possible demise of the Hearst-owned San Francisco Chronicle. Our city by the bay might soon have no newspaper.

Which is sad. As journalists, our hearts go out to everyone working at the Chronicle right now, particularly the long-time staffers and writers who've given everything they have to a dying institution. They deserve better.

But so does our city. San Francisco should have a great daily "paper". Now, we have the opportunity to imagine what that might look like. In this space — and quite possibly in the real world — people (like these collaborators) can hash out what daily news might look like if we could start over, start fresh, and build for a digital world.

The beautiful thing about building the first new news org here in the Bay would be that you could draw both on the tremendous traditional newspaper talent and all the bloggers and reporters who've worked in the online world. You could also pick the latest in open source tools, so you don't get locked into a crappy content management system that you also overpaid for. (Instead, you'll probably just get a crappy content management system that was at least free.)

But San Francisco isn't unique. Other communities have these problems — and are working to come up with solutions. Take, for example, check out the group of Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporters who are exploring transforming their newsroom into a co-op via the wiki, the Seattle Post-Post-Intelligencer.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL One idea for a distribution model? All digital with a weekly newsmagazine that pulls in original content and publishes a curated selection of important articles from the week. Even stranger: how about providing free WiFi all over San Francisco, using that platform to drive the website and mobile app use. What are your ideas?

COVERAGE PLAN The Chronicle's current news team is composed of 275 people. Let's say that's too many to support online and cut the number in half. That's still 140 people. How would we use them? Or maybe that's not the right way to approach the problem. What could we build from the ground up? What's the shortest path to money?

BUSINESS MODEL This is one area where we need some help. I'm not sure what kind of CPM a high-level, local, daily news site could get. Let's assume that the audience would be at least the 5.5 million monthly visitors that the current SFgate.com gets. More exciting models exist, though, when you can add value for advertisers by using your readers' locations. Weigh in!

MOCK UPS

Obviously, the SFGate needs a redesign. Why not a front page that works like a combination of iGoogle and Huffington Post? A curated, customized news page that incorporates editor selections about what's important, the most popular articles of the day, and preestablished choices (like neighborhood feeds). Be acquisitive, link content from other sites if it's better than what you've got. Think from the perspective of the news consumer not producer.

WHO IS BEHIND THIS?

You are, if you're interested. You're here already, anyway. The San Francisco Post-Chronicle is now a community of over 80 people who are contributing thoughts and ideas on the future of news from both inside and outside the traditional paper business. Check out all of the collaborators.

Sarah Rich and Alexis Madrigal birthed the wiki in the wee hours of the morning on February 25th, a few hours after the news broke about the The San Francisco Chronicle's possible demise. They started with a basic question: how would you produce and distribute daily news in the city we live in? Subtract paper and assume the Internet. Build it from the ground-up.

GET INVOLVED Join the Post-Chronicle community! Help with the business model How can the Chronicle staff get involved? Check out/suggest mock ups Collaborate on this project