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2011 Knight News Challenge Winners Announced

Posted by Amy Garmer on Jun 22, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Local Journalism, Open Government, Public Service Media

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the winners of the 2011 Knight News Challenge at the MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts today. Sixteen ideas that push the future of news and information will receive a total of $4.7 million to foster innovation at “the intersection of journalism and technology,” according to Knight Foundation President Alberto [...]

Implementing the Recommendations of the Knight Commission

Posted by KnightComm on Jun 22, 2011 in Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Featured, Local Journalism, Open Government, Public Service Media, Universal Broadband, White Paper Series

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy released its report “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age” in 2009 with 15 recommendations to better meet community information needs. Immediately following the release of “Informing Communities,” the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program and the John S. and James L. [...]

Chicago Roundtable to Launch New Report on Reviving Civic Communication

Posted by KnightComm on Jun 08, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy

This Friday the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation release the sixth in a series of white papers aimed at implementing the recommendations of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. The paper—“Civic Engagement and Community Information: Five Strategies to Revive [...]

Local Online Hubs: Rockville Central Founder Explains Move to Facebook

Posted by Amy Garmer on Apr 04, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Local Journalism, Public Service Media

When we announced in late February that we were moving our successful local blog, Rockville Central, entirely to our Facebook page and that we would no longer be updating our standalone web site, a number of readers were surprised and dismayed. And we ourselves were surprised when this move gained some national attention as people who think about journalism weighed in on whether Facebook was “the future of news” and whether our move was a harbinger of things to come. (See here for a wrap-up of some of the key reactions.)

The Community Information Toolkit, Version 1.0

Posted by KnightComm on Mar 04, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Open Government, Public Service Media, Spotlight, Universal Broadband

At the 2011 Media Learning Seminar, an annual gathering hosted by the Knight Foundation, hundreds of community foundation leaders and journalism and technology experts previewed the beta version of the Community Information Toolkit, a set of tools and steps designed to help communities take stock of their news and information flow and take actionable steps [...]

Information Stories tell of personal stakes in healthy info communities

Posted by Amy Garmer on Mar 03, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Local Journalism, Open Government, Spotlight, Universal Broadband

“What’s at stake when local news and information flow doesn’t serve all members of a community equally well? How can people respond?”
These questions lie at the heart of Information Stories, a riveting new series of twelve three-to-five minute videos that show how people can overcome the powerlessness caused by living in an information vacuum. Combining [...]

GovFresh: New recommendations for improving local open government and creating online hubs

Posted by KnightComm on Mar 01, 2011 in Civic Engagement, News, Open Government

Alex Howard, Government 2.0 Correspondent for O’Reilly Radar, provided a good wrap-up of last week’s Roundtable on implementing the recommendations for government transparency and creating community hubs.
New recommendations for improving local open government and creating online hubs
By Alex Howard · February 25, 2011
Today, the Aspen Institute hosted a roundtable on government transparency [...]

Five Strategies to Revive Civic Communication

Posted by KnightComm on Mar 01, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Open Government, White Paper Series

Promoting greater civic engagement and investing in the capacity of citizens to engage with civic information and one another to solve public problems are among the recommendations made by the Knight Commission. Civic Engagement and Community Information: Five Strategies to Revive Civic Communication, a new policy paper by Peter Levine, calls on community and elected [...]

Creating Local Online Hubs: Three Models for Action

Posted by Amy Garmer on Feb 25, 2011 in Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Local Journalism, Open Government, White Paper Series

Access to relevant, high-quality information about the community is a key ingredient to a vibrant civic culture and, as the Knight Commission observed, a necessary element for fostering robust civic engagement. Finding that information can be difficult in a fragmented media environments that often fluctuate between extremes of too much or too little information, and [...]

Video: Roundtable on Open Government and Local Online Hubs

Posted by KnightComm on Feb 25, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Events, Open Government

On February 25th the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation released the fourth and fifth in a series of white papers aimed at implementing the recommendations of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. The papers—“Government Transparency: Six Strategies for More [...]

Sensible Strategies for Open Government and Online Hubs

Posted by KnightComm on Feb 25, 2011 in Civic Engagement, Open Government

New Policy Papers Call For Adoption of Strategies to Expand Government Transparency and Create Online Hubs
Washington, D.C.—Today the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation released two policy papers that call on community and elected leaders to adopt sensible strategies to expand government transparency, make public records [...]

New Report Finds Nation in “Civic Recession”

Posted by KnightComm on Dec 23, 2010 in Civic Engagement

America is suffering from a recession in civic engagement – we’re not voting, we’re not volunteering, we’re not active in our communities – and the solution is to instill civic values in our schoolchildren. That is the consensus of a report, the Pennsylvania Civic Health Index, released Wednesday at the National Constitution Center.

PubCamp: Making the Policy Case for Public Media

Posted by Amy Garmer on Dec 07, 2010 in Civic Engagement, Public Service Media

American University’s Center for Social Media recently hosted the 2nd Annual National Public Media Camp in Washington, D.C. The PubCamp, designed to bring together public broadcasters, developers and fans to create new strategies and tools for engagement, was held on November 20-21, 2010. Shilpi Singh has blogged some highlights of the discussion here.

Portraits of Success: Globaloria

Posted by KnightComm on Dec 02, 2010 in Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy

Dozens of digital and media literacy programs are taking hold in communities across the nation and around the world. The following portraits of success illustrate the many creative initiatives that bring together diverse stakeholders to deliver on the promise of digital citizenship for all. If you have a story of success that should be included [...]

Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action

Posted by Amy Garmer on Nov 10, 2010 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, White Paper Series

The Knight Commission recognized that people need tools, skills and understanding to use information effectively, and that successful participation in the digital age entails two kinds of skills sets: digital literacy and media literacy. Digital literacy means learning how to work the information and communication technologies in a networked environment, as well as understanding the [...]