News Challenge to fund ideas for community news innovations

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on September 28, 2007 at 11:28 PM

Entrants have just over two weeks to submit ideas on how to use digital experiments to transform community news in the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Knight News Challenge, a contest awarding as much as $5 million for innovative ideas.

Although 2007 is the contest's second year, it is the first for international entries. The deadline is October 15.

The goal of the Knight News Challenge is to use news and information delivered digitally to “enhance physical communities and improve the lives of people where they live, work and vote,” according to a statement on the foundation's Web site. “Nothing is too far out to qualify ... the contest is open to community-minded innovators worldwide, from software designers to journalists to citizens and students of any age.”

The challenge “hopes to discover innovative ways of using cyberspace to bring communities together,” Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight Foundation, said in a statement.

Winning entries must meet three criteria:

1) Use of digital media

2) Delivery of news or information on a shared basis

3) Delivery of that news needs to be to a geographically defined community

Most entries are open to all and must share the software and knowledge created, but there is a category for commercial applications.

The first year of the contest saw grants be awarded to 25 individuals and private and public entities. A few of the winning projects included new software that links databases to allow citizens to learn about civic information in their neighbourhood, distribution of video news reports from mobile young journalists on the 2008 U.S. presidential election and online environment which lets citizens “play” through a complex, evolving news story through interaction with newsmakers.

“Virtual communities spring up every day. They don’t need our help. Geographic communities are the building blocks of democracy. They do need help,” stated Gary Kebbel, Knight journalism program officer and the contest’s coordinator.

To enter online, click here.