REPORT DESCRIPTION

The Knight News Challenge is a five-year, $25 million, media innovation contest to find new, digital ways to inform communities. This feature article reviews the contest through year four, pinpointing lessons learned, profiling a selection of contest winners and offering snapshots of their wide-ranging projects.

The article addresses questions such as:

• How has the contest affected the Knight Foundation’s work in journalism and media?
• What can be learned from some of the winners’ projects about media innovation?
• What challenges have winners faced?

Report Partner: The report was produced by Christopher Connell.

REPORT CONTENTS

A List of Knight News Challenge Winners and their projects from 2007 to 2010.

• A Quest for Fresh Ideas and a Dose of Humility Drive the Knight News Challenge – A look at the Knight review panel’s process.

• Building Networks and Connections – News Challenge fosters working relationships among journalists, programmers and activists.

• An Alliance with the Inventor of the World Wide Web – a profile of Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s project with the Media Standards Trust to promote transparency and advance universal access.

• Success and Failure in the Windy City – A brief overview of Everyblock’s ability to secure marketplace support and the challenges faced by Chi-Town Daily News

• Playing Games with the News – A review of efforts to support game research and its application to journalism

• ‘Freedom Fone’ Rings for Zimbabwe – An overview of Freedom Fone, a project that allows people to dial up news and public-interest information on their cell phones.