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Category: Civic Engagement

Civic Leaders Consider How to Meet Community Information Needs

Posted by Amy Garmer on Jul 02, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Facebook Feature, Local Journalism, Open Government

The League of Women Voters took up the Knight Commission’s challenge to help meet the information needs of America’s communities during a workshop at its 2010 convention in Atlanta last month. The session, entitled “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy and Citizen Participation in the Digital Age,” provided an opportunity for LWV members to explore what role the national [...]

Knight Commission Presents Workshop on Information Needs

Posted by KnightComm on Jul 01, 2010 in Civic Engagement, News

“Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy & Citizen Participation in the Digital Age” was the opening workshop at the June 11-15 League of Women Voters National Convention in Atlanta Georgia attended by three members of the LWV of Montgomery County.

Public Media Corps: Now in BETA!

Posted by Jacquie Jones on Jun 17, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Public Service Media, Spotlight

While home broadband adoption continues to rise, with an average of well over 60% of Americans having high-speed internet available in their homes, African Americans, Latinos and people in low-income communities continue to lag behind by double-digit margins. As both the Knight Commission Report, Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age and the National [...]

League of Women Voters to Examine Knight Commission Recommendations

Posted by Amy Garmer on Jun 08, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement

The League of Women Voters will feature the work of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy at its annual convention in Atlanta this month. The 2010 Convention, with the theme “Making Democracy Work,” will be held June 11-15, 2010.
Charlie Firestone, executive director of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society [...]

Measuring the Information Health of American Cities

Posted by Amy Garmer on Jun 07, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Featured, Local Journalism, Open Government, Public Service Media

Since the release of the report of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, we’ve seen efforts in communities across the country to take stock of their unique information needs and assets. One of the great things about these case studies is that they are bringing a discussion that has [...]

Groups Advancing Knight Commission Recommendations Submit Comments to FCC’s Future of Media Inquiry

Posted by Amy Garmer on May 27, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Local Journalism

New America Foundation, Free Press and Media Access Project submitted the following comments to the Federal Communications Commission’s examination of The Future of Media and Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age. Heeding a call by the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, the FCC established the Future of [...]

What does Government 2.0 look like?

Posted by KnightComm on May 26, 2010 in Civic Engagement, Ideas and Issues, Open Government

The most important thing I learned in grad school was very simple: “Draw the picture.” (Thanks Tony.) By that my advisor meant that it’s often hard or impossible to describe a complex system in words alone. And consequently, if you can’t draw a picture of what you’re trying to explain, you probably don’t understand it. Drawing pictures of complex systems also helps everyone understand where the knowledge gaps are, or where unsolved problems are buried, or where contradictions exist.

Measuring Informed Communities at the Free Press Summit

Posted by Amy Garmer on May 17, 2010 in Civic Engagement, Ideas and Issues, Open Government, Universal Broadband

We are facing a growing information divide that is leaving more and more people with less and less access to the basic information that helps them make choices about their jobs, families and communities. We have to have a national approach to the challenge of meeting these information needs. But first we have to answer a few core questions: How do we define the information needs of communities, and how do we measure them?

Close-up on Seattle: Local Blogs and Community Collaboration

Posted by Amy Garmer on May 12, 2010 in Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Featured, Local Journalism, Open Government, Public Service Media, Spotlight, Universal Broadband

We’ve just published our first two information ecology case studies, which take a close look at the local conditions in Seattle and Scranton. When we started investigating these media ecosystems, we used the Knight Commission Report, “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age,” as our guide.

Survey Reports Citizen Satisfaction With E-Gov Services

Posted by Amy Garmer on Apr 28, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Open Government

The American public is expressing increased satisfaction with federal government services that are offered online, according to the latest quarterly report of the American Customer Satisfaction Index E-Government Satisfaction Index. The e-government satisfaction index is produced by the market research firm ForeSee Results. This survey and previous research conducted by ForeSee show that citizens who are very satisfied with a [...]

Seeking sustainability: The business of nonprofit journalism

Posted by Knight Digital Media Center All-Site Feed on Apr 26, 2010 in Civic Engagement, Local Journalism, Spotlight

Community connectedness and diverse revenue streams are critical ingredients for success for nonprofit news organizations. That’s my headline the conversation at the Knight Foundation’s “Seeking Sustainability” roundtable discussion of about 50 people representing 18 nonprofit news organizations Monday in Austin.

Tracking the Policy Debates on the Future of Media

Posted by Amy Garmer on Apr 23, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Local Journalism, Open Networks, Public Service Media, Universal Broadband

Josh Stearns at SavetheNews.org has posted a helpful guide to Ten Policy Debates Shaping Journalism Right Now listing 10 legislative proposals, policy proceedings and inquiries taking place in Washington that could have a significant impact on the future of journalism in the United States. Here’s the list of 10 (go to SavetheNews.org for descriptions and [...]

Our Public Library Lifeline is Fraying. We’ll Be Sorry When it Snaps.

Posted by Amy Garmer on Apr 12, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Universal Broadband

Libraries, once considered a necessity, are now seen as a luxury. They are low-hanging fruit for budget pluckers, particularly at the state and local levels of government in communities across the country.

Going on the record: Civic engagement is for journalists, too!

Posted by Knight Digital Media Center All-Site Feed on Apr 12, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Local Journalism, Open Government, Open Networks, Universal Broadband

The traditional culture and ethics of professional journalism encourage journalists to hold themselves aloof from the communities they cover; to maintain objectivity through distance. Generally this means not voicing personal opinions on politics or controversial issues, and not engaging directly in civic processes. Sometimes even voting, campaign contributions, or speaking up at civic meetings are [...]

How Will Comcast Ruling Affect the Information Health of Communities?

Posted by Amy Garmer on Apr 09, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Open Networks, Universal Broadband

UPDATED 4/9/10: Both the Knight Commission report and the National Broadband Plan call for setting ambitious standards for broadband availability and a strong commitment to open networks. (The FCC cited the Knight Commission report in the Plan.) So we join the legions of others assessing the impact of the federal appeals court’s decision in the [...]

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