Adam Thierer: Thinking about the Future of Informed Communities and Journalism

Adam Thierer

By Adam Thierer, “Thinking about the Future of Informed Communities and Journalism,” Forbes.com, December 4, 2011

When it comes to the state of our deliberative democracy, here’s one thing we do know: There’s never been a time when citizens have had more informational inputs at their disposal. But here’s something we don’t know: Whether citizens have access to the right sort of information — or know how to take action based upon that information — to make informed decisions about their communities and society. What steps can be taken to make sure they do?

That was the audacious mission undertaken by the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, a blue-ribbon panel formed by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the nonpartisan Aspen Institute. In 2009, the Knight Commission released a report “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age” that included 15 recommendations to better meet community information needs.

Following the release of the report…

Read the full op-ed at Forbes.com.