The simple homepage of Twazzup works if you want a search driven site. Chance are, you're gonna want to browse too.

As far as UI goes: Total customization is the way I'd go. UI similar to Twazzup, but:
• with the ability to add/move modules around.
• ability to mix modules from different searches/categories. You can create one page that gives you all the news you care about.
• The homepage could still be search-centric, but offers more than 2 curated topics. Imagine how many people would volunteer to be correspondents and/or curators for a local sports team!
• The homepage should be geo-aware: offering you curated/trending news from your area if you want it.

Alright. I'm sold. Anyone got the money to build this? 'Cause I want to be a part.

I'm beginning to better understand storystreaming the more you write about it — thanks!

FWIW… what you're describing sounds a bit like twazzup.com . For example: iran.twazzup.com

Excellent list of examples. Two things come to mind:

J-schools need to teach motivation
This is an often-talked about failure of the current journalism educational system – students need to be taught entrepreneurialism. It's not longer acceptable for journalists to be 9-5 reporters working a day job. At least not now. And not likely for the next 5-10 years. Maybe longer. If we can get the journalists of the present/future thinking in terms of this new paradigm, we'll spend less time watching our industry get built around us, and more time leading the way.

Old Media is Chronicling it's Demise
I might be wrong on this, but never before in history has any industry taken such accurate notes, had such a huge meta-discussion, about it's own collapse. The examples in this post just prove that. As Adrian Holovaty says about data:

1. Who cares?
2. I hope my competitors waste their time arguing about this as long as possible.

Some of us are going to do this. You're more than welcome to come along for the ride. Storystreaming seems to be to a method of getting past the article as Jeff Jarvis would say. In other words, it's a way to move forward, instead of insisting on the old formats, which we've seen get broken all the time.

Personally, I'm rooting for Google Wave + plugins to provide the curation and aggregation necessary to pull off a story-streaming platform. But… if someone wants to build something else/better… I say go for it. You've got nothing to loose but a startup under your belt and might be creating the next twitter.

Yours in pessimistic optimism,
–Joey

Disclosure: Kevin asked me to comment on this post.