In honor of its 15th anniversary, CommonWealth Magazine is taking a look at some of the challenges and opportunities created by the changes in the world of journalism.

As part of its coverage, the magazine which is published by the nonpartisan public affairs think tank MassINC, features an article about how collaboration, including tapping the wisdom of the crowd, is now part of a journalist’s role. The article, written by Eric Newton, senior advisor to the president of Knight Foundation, identifies journalists’ opportunities and responsibilities:

“Today, anyone with a broadband connection can create news, pass it along, critique it. We must tell the story of how people need reliable news and information to run their communities and their lives. We should tell people a lot more about how and why journalists do what we do.  Promoting media literacy in the digital age is part of our role.”

The article “The good news about news,” was adapted from a speech Newton gave at a Moscow conference last month. Another article featured in its anniversary issue, “Silent crisis,” offers an in-depth look at how the shrinking press corps at places like the State House is creating a decline in what the FCC calls “accountability reporting”:

“Steven Waldman, a former Newsweek and US News & World Report reporter and the lead author of the FCC report, says the news industry is going through a revolution in style and substance that is far from over. He says retrenchment is dramatically affecting the quality of news coverage at the state and local level, leaving the political system vulnerable to abuse. What frightens him most is that almost no one realizes there is a problem. ‘It’s a little bit of a silent crisis because you don’t know what you’re missing,’ he says.”

Another feature story, “What happens when a community loses its newspaper,” provides a look at what happened to the community of Holyoke, Mass. after its residents lost their local community newspaper.

In addition to its quarterly print magazine, CommonWealth is increasing its online presence, in order to continue its coverage between issues. To that end, last year Knight Foundation matched a grant from The Boston Foundation to fund CommonWealth’s new web platform and build-out its investigative reporting unit. The grant was part of Knight’s Community Information Challenge, a five-year initiative to help community foundations find creative ways to use new media and technology to keep residents informed and engaged.