At an event last year at Columbia University, Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen says he hopes the new FCC report on community information needs engenders a vigorous debate, and action.

A new report explores the ways that non-profit and commercial media organizations can partner to strengthen investigative reporting, reach a broader audience and increase their impact. “From Outsourcing to Innovation” gives practical tips for creating an effective partnership, which it says can ultimately help the nonprofit’s bottom line. Produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program, the report also explores the role of the government and technology sectors in supporting the media hybrids. The study is one of 11 funded by Knight and the Carnegie Corporation of New York in an effort to take action on the Federal Communications Commission’s landmark report, “Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age.” Knight and Carnegie dedicated more than $800,000 to help implement the report’s recommendations, including this series and other projects that examine how tax law is affecting nonprofit media, how to develop reliable metrics on media philanthropy, and more. The report is based on a roundtable discussion held last November which brought together nonprofit and for-profit media leaders. PBS MediaShift covered the discussion in “How Non-Profit, For-Profit Newsrooms Are Working Together.” UC Berkeley is among the 12 universities convened by the Carnegie Corporation and Knight Foundation over the past five years to improve journalism education and raise the profiles and contributions of journalism school deans, directors and students in the ongoing public debate over the future of journalism.