It seems like the most natural model would be pro-am collaboration. For example, investigative journalists publish research and then let amateurs incorporate this into their own publications. This is basically what is happening already, so with only a few tweaks it would be possible to both greatly increase the quality and also monetize the whole process.

This complicated three-tiered model seems about as workable as the Ptolemaic universe. Much better I think just to give readers the tools to go in the direction they are already taking on their own.