The Community Foundation of New Jersey, a 2011 Knight Community Information Challenge winner, on how it is meeting local information needs by investing in the nonprofit news site NJ Spotlight. The following is written by Michele McLellan and cross-posted from Knight Digital Media Center. The Knight Community Information Challenge provides unique opportunities for community foundations and […]
Article · January 23, 2012 by Michele McLellan
On Wednesday Jan. 18, Knight will be accepting applications for the next round of its Knight Community Information Challenge. The contest engages community and place-based foundations in playing leading roles in meeting the information needs of their communities. This post is about challenge winner The Akronist. The Akron Community Foundation has formed a new partnership with the […]
Article · January 13, 2012 by Michele McLellan
The Chicago Community Trust, a two-time Knight Community Information Challenge winner, has focused its efforts on fostering a healthy news ecosystem of both for-profit and nonprofit news and information providers. The Trust’s most recent effort is the development of an advertising network of 15 small, local news sites in the Chicago area. These sites are too small to attract […]
Article · November 14, 2011 by Michele McLellan
PublicSource, an investigative journalism organization that received seed funding as a Knight Community Information Challenge winner, launched Sunday with a report that college lands in Pennsylvania may be leased for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking – a controversial method of extracting natural gas from rock. “Our goal is to become a trusted source of in-depth and enterprise news […]
Article · November 7, 2011 by Michele McLellan
This Tallahassee Believes, a project that invites residents to explore the core values and beliefs that shape their lives, is now being featured by This I Believe International. The Tallahassee project was just launched by the Village Square, a Knight Community Information Challenge winner supported by the Community Foundation of North Florida. The Village Square […]
Article · October 26, 2011 by Michele McLellan
“Women in Prison” video from nonprofit new site Oklahoma Watch Foundations are playing a significant and helpful role in fostering new models for local news. But in addition to money, a little tough love may be in order when looking at prospective journalism grantees. If the grant money doesn’t flow forever, how can a foundation […]
Article · October 25, 2011 by Michele McLellan
The newspaper on the Web is not a sustainable model, and nonprofit news start ups are placing more and more emphasis on engaging their users with content and conversation, and perhaps, as members or donors. A new report from the Knight Foundation details emerging engagement practices at several of the larger nonprofit news sites. Along […]
Article · October 24, 2011 by Michele McLellan
Join a Live Chat Today Poynter.org will offer a live web chat today (Tuesday Oct. 18) at 2:30 p.m. EDT on its web site. READ Full Report: “Getting Local: How Nonprofit News Ventures Seek Sustainability“ News Release: “New report: Nonprofit news sites – and their search for sustainability“ By Mayur Patel and Michele McLellan: In the emerging landscape […]
Article · October 18, 2011 by Michele McLellan
MN Idea Open, an innovative contest that solicits solutions to state problems from the general public, has opened its second round. This year, the issue is water quality and the Open has selected three finalists from more than 100 entries. The finalists would: Expand a canoe-lending library to include kayaks, and a curriculum for ninth graders to […]
Article · August 30, 2011 by Michele McLellan
Cross-posted from informationneeds.org The Notebook, a Knight Community Information Challenge winner that covers education in Philadelphia, is featured in The New York Times as an example of a small news organization that was able to produce a significant investigation through persistence and partnerships. A partnership with a local public radio station, WHYY, enabled The Notebook’s editor, […]
Article · August 5, 2011 by Michele McLellan
MIT Center for Civic Media, working with the Community Foundation of Greater South Wood County, is launching the first phase of the Sameboat project. The goal of Sameboat is to take important community information and push it out to everyday places that people commonly frequent. The signs will make it easier for community members to […]
Article · July 20, 2011 by Michele McLellan