The ongoing coverage of the developing oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was bound to stir new-media investigations like the one the Center for Public Integrity, a Knight Foundation grantee, is carrying out. The Center, a nonprofit dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern, is using newly developed Web-based tools to deliver and share material with readers.

For example, the Center created an online library using a platform developed by another Knight grantee, DocumentCloud, to make available government documents its reporters are uncovering as part of their investigation into the oil spill. The Center, partnering with ABC News, posted exclusively obtained reports by the U.S. Coast Guard about past oil spill training exercises, which revealed weaknesses in the federal and industry response plan years before the BP disaster in the Gulf.

The Center credited DocumentCloud, which won a Knight News Challenge grant in 2009, in its use of the online tool: ‘It’s an emerging platform that we’re pleased to use, giving our readers more depth, context, and resources as part of the Center for Public Integrity’s brand of investigative journalism.’

DocumentCloud is an index of primary source documents and a tool for annotating, organizing and publishing them on the Web. Documents are contributed by journalists, researchers and archivists.

Currently in its fourth year, Knight News Challenge is open to community-minded innovators worldwide. Projects must use digital, open-source technology, distribute news in the public interest and be tested in a local community. Winners for 2010 will be announced in June.