[ShareTompkins] National Contest Calls on Community Foundations for Local Information Experiments

[Alison Fromme]

FYI - Here's a grant opportunity from a national organization -- seems  
like a great source of funding, if you are involved with a foundation  
working on media and information projects.
Cheers,
-Alison


Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Knight Community Information Challenge" <kcic at knightfoundation.org 
> >
> Date: February 1, 2010 1:35:03 PM EST
> To: alisonfromme at nasw.org
> Subject: National Contest Calls on Community Foundations for Local  
> Information Experiments
>
>
> NEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> National Contest Calls on Community Foundations
> For Local Information Experiments
> Knight Foundation's Community Information Challenge
> Open Now Through March 8
> MIAMI (Feb. 1, 2010) The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is  
> accepting applications from community and place-based foundations  
> seeking to fund news and information projects. The deadline for the  
> Knight Community Information Challenge, a matching grant program, is  
> March 8. Applications can be submitted at www.informationneeds.org.
>
> Representatives from community or place-based foundations with  
> questions about the Challenge can participate in one of two live  
> chats to have queries answered online by Knight Foundation program  
> officers. The live chats will take place at noon EDT Feb. 16 and 22  
> at www.informationneeds.org. Visit the site to learn more and sign  
> up for a reminder.
> Knight Foundation created the five-year contest to help local  
> foundations find creative ways to fund media projects that inform  
> and engage residents about pressing issues. So far, the Challenge  
> has awarded $7.3 million for 45 ideas in communities large and  
> small. The projects include funding public interest online news  
> sites, creating online hubs to engage communities around specific  
> issues and filling gaps in the types of news and information  
> available locally.
>
> “Local foundations are increasingly taking the initiative to meet  
> their community’s information needs, a goal as important as ensuring  
> an area has good schools, jobs and clean air,” said Trabian  
> Shorters, Knight Foundation’s vice president for communities, who  
> leads the Challenge.
> J-lab, the Institute for Interactive Journalism, has found that  
> since 2005, foundations have awarded nearly $136 million in grants  
> to 128 news and information projects nationwide.
> Knight Foundation provides free consultants to help local  
> foundations identify opportunities and the technology that could  
> benefit their communities. In addition, Knight will host the third  
> Media Learning Seminar March 1-2 in Miami. The seminar aims to  
> educate leaders of community and place-based foundations about media  
> trends and the information needs of communities in a democracy.  
> Registration for the seminar is open through Feb. 15. To apply,  
> learn more about the challenge or register for the Media Learning  
> Seminar, visit www.informationneeds.org.
>
> The Challenge is part of Knight's Media Innovation Initiative, whose  
> seven projects include an effort to explore national media reform,  
> increase broadband access and transform journalism education, among  
> others.
>
> The Challenge complements the sweeping recommendations of the Knight  
> Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, a  
> project of the Aspen Institute.  In a report issued last fall, the  
> commission asserts that democracy in America is threatened by the  
> lack of equal access to quality information. The report is available  
> at www.knightcomm.org.
>
> About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
>
> The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in  
> the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the  
> Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on  
> projects that promote informed, engaged communities and lead to  
> transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org
>
> Media Contact: Marc Fest, vice president / Communications, John S.  
> and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677; fest at knightfoundation.org
>
>
> This message was sent from Knight Community Information Challenge to alisonfromme at nasw.org 
> . It was sent from: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 200  
> South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 3300, Miami, FL 33131. You can  
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