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Information Stories tell of personal stakes in healthy info communities

Posted by Amy Garmer on Apr 17, 2013 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Featured, 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 series of twelve three-to-five minute videos that show how people can overcome the powerlessness caused by living in an information vacuum. Combining the [...]

Implementing the Recommendations of the Knight Commission

Posted by KnightComm on Jun 22, 2012 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, 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. [...]

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

Posted by KnightComm on Apr 18, 2012 in Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Local Journalism, News, Open Government, Public Service Media, Universal Broadband

Democracy can likely get by with less information and civic engagement than some suggest. But that doesn’t mean we can get by without any.

Thierer: Thinking about the Future of Informed Communities and Journalism

Posted by Amy Garmer on Dec 05, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Local Journalism, Universal Broadband

Adam Thierer’s most recent op-ed (“Thinking about the Future of Informed Communities and Journalism”) in his Technologies of Freedom column on Forbes.com is worthy of note– and not just because it mentions the work of the Knight Commission and the related series of eight white papers published by the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program. [...]

Assessing Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide

Posted by Amy Garmer on Oct 17, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Local Journalism, Open Government, Public Service Media, Spotlight, Universal Broadband, White Paper Series

Free flowing news and information is essential to the health of democratic communities, but not all information environments are equally effective at meeting community information needs. What can a community do to measure the quality of its information environment, identify its information needs and take steps to build a more robust news and information ecosystem?
Assessing [...]

FCC’s Public-Private Broadband Initiative Emphasizes Adoption, Digital Literacy

Posted by Amy Garmer on Oct 12, 2011 in Blog, Digital Literacy, Universal Broadband

Today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will announce a national public-private partnership program designed to increase broadband adoption, elevate digital literacy and assist Americans in searching and training for jobs. The public-private partnership seeks to overcome the top obstacles to broadband adoption, including digital literacy, relevance and cost. Representatives from partner companies, non-profits and think tanks [...]

Progress Announced on Key Recommendations of “Information Needs of Communities” Report

Posted by Amy Garmer on Oct 05, 2011 in Blog, Local Journalism, Public Service Media, Universal Broadband

Two years ago this week, the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy released its Informing Communities report, which has served as a catalyst for a broader national conversation on how to bring the benefits and opportunities of the digital age to every community.
The fruits of this ongoing conversation were on [...]

What are the Information Needs of Communities?

Posted by KnightComm on Aug 15, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Featured, Local Journalism, Open Government, Public Service Media, Universal Broadband

In the digital age, technological, economic and behavioral changes are dramatically altering how Americans communicate. Information is more fragmented. Communications systems no longer run along the same lines as local governance.

Journalists and Librarians Finding Common Ground

Posted by Amy Garmer on Jul 01, 2011 in Blog, Civic Engagement, Digital Literacy, Local Journalism, Public Service Media, Universal Broadband

What can journalists and libraries do to create opportunities for local news and civic engagement?
Leading-edge thinkers in both fields have come together recently in several different venues to explore answers to this question. The early feedback on these discussions is that this is a worthwhile topic to discuss at a critical time for both institutions.
In [...]

FCC Releases Knight Commission-inspired Report on Information Needs

Posted by KnightComm on Jun 09, 2011 in Local Journalism, Open Government, Spotlight, Universal Broadband

Today the FCC released the findings of its inquiry into the Future of Media, a project begun in early 2010 in response to the Knight Commission. In a report over 450 pages long, author Steve Waldman and the Working Group on Information Needs of Communities inspect the shifting media landscape and lay out how relevant [...]

New Online Hub for Digital Literacy Debuts

Posted by Amy Garmer on May 13, 2011 in Blog, Digital Literacy, Universal Broadband

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced the launch of a new government initiative aimed at promoting digital literacy resources and collaboration. The federal Digital Literacy Initiative represents a major advance toward implementing the Knight Commission’s recommendations for enhancing the information capacity of individuals through new collaborations, public policies and investments in [...]

National Broadband Plan: A Quartet for an Anniversary

Posted by Blair Levin on Mar 18, 2011 in Blog, Universal Broadband

The one-year anniversary of the National Broadband Plan was marked by a number of conferences. I spoke at several. In each, I tried to address a different question. In the first, hosted by the Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies, I looked at how we should approach increasing adoption. While I am very proud of the plan, on this issue, I have rethought what we did and think the approach we proposed will not work, and that there is a better way. Our approach, based on the voice-related issues of availability and cost are not the right foundation for broadband related issues in which, in addition to availability and cost, we must address use and training. I set out a four-step program that I hope will help reframe the debate, as we need a workable program to solve this problem.

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 [...]

A Sensible Approach to Universal Broadband

Posted by Amy Garmer on Mar 04, 2011 in Blog, Digital Literacy, Spotlight, Universal Broadband, White Paper Series

The Knight Commission recognized that for there to be healthy news communities, all Americans need access to diverse sources of news and information. In the future, that means that all Americans will need access to broadband networks, and public policy should encourage broadband adoption. Yet current government programs to assure communication networks are available to [...]

Manintaining the National Commitment to Open Networks

Posted by Amy Garmer on Dec 22, 2010 in Blog, Open Networks, Universal Broadband

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy stated in its report, Informing Communities, that a national commitment to an open Internet is an important element of ensuring that individuals and communities have the resources necessary to be fully informed in the digital age. In light of the Federal Communications Commission’s vote on [...]