Freedom Fone
Tides Center
- Date Awarded
- 03/10/08
- Amount
- $876,000
- Grant Period
- 03/10/08 to 07/31/11
- Focus Area
- Journalism & Media Innovation
- Initiative
- Knight News Challenge
Grantee Contact
- San Francisco, CA
- www.tides.org
Featured Media
To create an economical way for poor people to use cell phones to create and gather information in forms difficult for authoritarian governments to control
Freedom Fone will provide a voice database where users can access news and public-interest information via land, mobile or Internet phones. In a concept similar to a telephone tree employed by many private companies, users will call in and then dial specific numbers to find the information they need. Independent radio station content will be broadcast, along with frequently updated audio reports created specifically for Freedom Fone. Users will be able to pose questions and leave answers on a voicemail system. The concept, which employs both new and old technologies, will allow the poor to receive and contribute information in a practical and economical way. It will be tested in Zimbabwe.
Knight Foundation