National Public Radio has worked with member stations to launch 12 local blogs to better inform and engage residents of these communities, and to provide information relevant to a national audience on specific issues of health, local music, public safety and more.’ These sites and the project are now well underway.

In 2009, the’Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy highlighted the need for public media to provide better local news and information.

NPR planned Project Argo to create web-first reporting projects and improve member station web sites in a dozen cities, including three Knight Communities:’St. Paul, Philadelphia and the Bay Area.

Each station chose a topic at the core of its population such as the military or immigration, and provides web content and opportunities for community interaction on each site.

Knight Foundation supported this initiative earlier this year. Now these 12 sites have launched and are linked to each other and to NPR.

NPR will continue to work with pilot stations to increase their digital footprint and deepen their already-strong commitment to local journalism, and plans eventually to roll out the platform to the entire NPR network.