Who Should Do What

Who Should Do What

To keep this transition going in communities across America and advance the ideas explored in this paper, various stakeholders will need to undertake certain tasks. Below is a plan of action that details the roles of these stakeholders in creating local online hubs.

Local Governments
What local governments do in response to these challenges will vary by community but, generally speaking, the Informing Communities report’s sage advice to them is worth reiterating: “Government’s first role should be to let experimentation thrive,” and “governments should be careful not to pose barriers to innovation” (Knight Commission, 2009). To the extent local hubs already exist in their communities, local governments should ensure that these hubs are given access to all relevant data about the government and other community affairs organized by it. If the community lacks a vibrant local online hub, however, the government could take steps along the lines suggested above to create, or provide seed money for, such a hub.

State and Federal Governments
Greater transparency and access to vital public data should be the first charge of state governments or federal agencies looking to assist in the creation of local hubs. Targeted grants for some local hubs may be another option, although care should be taken to avoid imposing a particular hub vision from outside the community receiving support. Access to various public facilities might also be useful if hub creators or managers need space to convene meetings or house equipment.

Local Libraries and Other Community Organizations
Local libraries and other community organizations can help gauge community interests and develop content and resources for local hubs. Local libraries with well-trained staff may be one of the best places to start discussions about local informational needs and identify other stakeholders who can help facilitate local hub creation or improvement.

Local Businesses and Advertisers
To the extent local hubs depend on advertising support, local advertisers could help provide economic sustenance in much the same way they do for local newspapers and broadcast outlets. Local businesses could also offer varying degrees of assistance—either through direct financial sponsorship and support or through in-kind donations of services, support or needed technology.

Local Media Outlets
Creative partnerships could be brokered among local media outlets (newspapers, broadcast radio and television operators, community access television providers, cable or telecom operators) to foster or assist local hubs. Some local media operators might already have excellent local hubs in operation, but they still might be able to partner with other stakeholders to improve those hubs. While it is true that many traditional local media and information media providers are struggling, as the Informing Communities report correctly noted, “there is a transition underway requiring fresh thinking and new approaches to the gathering and sharing of news and information” (Knight Commission, 2009).

Local Universities
Local universities can provide many different resources and benefits to local online hubs. First, they can provide talent. In particular, if local universities have journalism or computer science programs, students or professors from those programs could be tapped to help develop sophisticated local hubs. Second, universities could host the online site themselves or cross-subsidize various hub activities. Third, universities could offer direct funding for the venture.

State Universities
Universities outside local communities might be able to develop special programs or tracks within journalism or computer science programs to help train students who can go out in the field and help develop local hubs. Those programs might also be able to develop a toolbox of technologies and templates for ready-made hubs. Some respected university programs and scholars are currently studying emerging models and identifying best practices for other local hubs to imitate. Some computer science programs are also working to provide the “code toolbox” necessary to make local hub creation easier. To the extent university programs such as these can help their own local communities first, it can help them incubate successful models elsewhere.

Foundations and Venture Capitalists
We need to encourage other foundations, non-profits and individual benefactors to support efforts such as the Knight News Challenge or directly invest in innovative local community online hubs and programs. While the Knight News Challenge represents one way to incubate innovative new local hub models, we need more partners in this endeavor. Identifying them and convincing them to support local community informational portals and services should be a top priority. Foundations should consider a matching program in which partners would agree to match gifts to certain best-of-class programs and applications. If a half-dozen other foundations were willing to follow Knight’s lead and match grants, we could significantly expand the number and increase the quality of community online hubs. Instead of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for awardees, we would be looking at millions.

Community Champions and Volunteers
Last, but certainly not least, high-quality hubs need committed community leaders and contributors. Finding champions in the community who will help lead these efforts is obviously essential. Many of the case studies discussed in this paper began with the efforts of a small handful of inspired, active, civic-minded citizens who were looking to make a difference in their communities using digital technologies.

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