Recommendation 15
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS:
Ensure that every local community has at least one high-quality online hub.
Given the volume of information on the Internet and the infinite diversity of user interests, it is not possible for any one Web site to aggregate all of the online information local residents want and need. Just as communities depend on maps of physical space, they should create maps of information flow that enable members of the public to connect to the data and information they want.
Communities should have at least one well-publicized portal that points to the full array of local information resources. These include government data feeds, local forums, community e-mail listservs, local blogs, local media, events calendars, and civic information. The best of these hubs would go beyond the mere aggregation of links and act as an online guidebook. They would enable citizens to map an effective research journey by letting people know what is available and where. The site should leverage the power of new forms of social media to support users in gathering and understanding local information.
Where private initiative is not creating community online hubs, a locally trusted anchor institution might undertake such a project with the assistance of government or foundation funding, or support from those who also support public media.
Next Page: Conclusion and a Call to Action
[...] Next Page: Recommendation 15 [...]
[...] Ensure one local news hub in every [...]
[...] used the term “online hub” above because that was Recommendation #15 of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy’s Informing [...]
[...] Last year I was asked by the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to author a study on models for local online hubs or community web portals. This paper was one of several commissioned by the Knight Foundation to implement the 15 recommendations found in the Knight Commission report on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. The specific Knight Commission recommendation I focused on in my white paper read as follows: “Ensure that every local community has at least one high-quality online hub.” More specifically, it said: “Communities should have at least one well-publicized portal that points to the full array of local information resources. These include government data feeds, local forums, community e-mail listservs, local blogs, local media, events calendars, and civic information. [The entire three paragraph recommendation can be read here.] [...]