Photo: Flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/ Cross-posted from NewsChallenge.org

As we enter the final hours of the Knight News Challenge, I wanted to offer some answers to questions that have been popping up on Twitter and in our newschallenge at knightfoundation org mail box.

• Deadline: As we ‘noted on Saturday, we’re going to be liberal about the deadline. We will not close off the application form until’7 am EST on December 2nd. (For those of you unfamiliar with US time zones, that means UTC -5.)
• If you’re planning to apply at midnight EST, please don’t let the above dissuade you– I advise you *not* to wait until the last minute.
• Public comments: We take into account ‘the public comments as part of our review process. However, as we mention in the contest’s’FAQs, public comments are not “the only parameter we use to choose the best projects. We give more weight to our panel of experts.”
• Please make ‘sure to click the box to accept the contest’s Terms and Conditions before you submit the application– your application is not final until you do.
• Likewise, please make sure to fill out every field in the application form– the system won’t let you complete the application unless you do.
• Application confirmation: You should receive a confirmation after successfully completing the News Challenge application. If you don’t, please make sure you completed all the fields. If you’re still having problems, please reach out to us at newschallenge at knightfoundation dot org.

I hope that helps. Good luck!