By Tom Lindley, Editor, Oklahoma Watch Faced with the nation’s highest incarceration rate for women, overcrowded prisons and rising costs, Oklahoma lawmakers recently approved landmark legislation that will begin to address problems in the criminal justice system. The action comes on the heels of a six-month investigation prompted by Oklahoma Watch, a winner of the […]
Article · July 13, 2011 by Michele McLellan
A new report for The Chicago Community Trust analyzes news flows in Chicago and provides a thought-provoking analysis of the city’s emerging news ecosystem and the roles of key information providers and sharers. It also shows the potential power of Web savvy community news start ups and nontraditional information providers as a new news environment […]
Article · June 30, 2011 by Michele McLellan
Can partnerships among key institutions support local, investigative journalism? That’s the question Sandy Rowe, former editor of The Oregonian, sought to answer as the Knight Fellow this year at the Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Policy at Harvard University. Her report, published last week, features two Knight Community Information Challenge projects – I-News […]
Article · June 8, 2011 by Michele McLellan
A Community Information Challenge winner, the Minnesota Community Foundation, has been named a Silver award winner for excellence in communications by the 2011 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards Program. Sponsored by the Council on Foundations, the awards program recognizes effective communication efforts to increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs. Minnesota Community Foundation received […]
Article · April 11, 2011 by Michele McLellan
This post is by Michele McLellan, journalist and consultant, and Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation We’ll be at the Council on Foundations Conference at 9:30 a.m. Monday to launch a new guide, “Journalism and Media Grant Making: Five Things You Need to Know, Five Ways to Get Started.” […]
Article · April 7, 2011 by Michele McLellan
How can funders get started both thinking about and actually investing in news and information projects? A new publication by Michele McLellan and Eric Newton – and published by William Penn Foundation and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation – offers tips. Read the report, download a copy and watch foundation leaders talk about […]
Article · April 1, 2011 by Michele McLellan
The Notebook, an online source for news about schools and education in Philadelphia, has won second prize in the community blogging category of the Education Writers Association National Education Reporting Awards. The winning entry was a collection of 10 blog posts by regular Notebook contributors and guest contributors. “We chose a variety of pieces that […]
Article · March 23, 2011 by Michele McLellan
Write for Arkansas is the latest Challenge winner featured on a new database of online news sites being compiled by the Columbia Journalism Review. The project of the Arkansas Community Foundation has funded about a dozen reporters to work for small newspapers around the state. Their work is published by the local news organization and […]
Article · March 10, 2011 by Michele McLellan
Part of the series on NewsCloud’s Philosophy of Online Community Building and Social Media. By Jeff Reifman NewsCloud’s open source platform is an ideal tool for community foundations wishing to help their communities and grantees become hosts of vibrant online communities. This post will present some resources and suggestions for approaching this kind of project. […]
Article · March 5, 2011 by Michele McLellan
By Tim Francisco and Alyssa Lenhoff Youngstown State University student journalist Dan Pompili was nervous. “What if they throw me out?” he asked. Before anyone could answer his question, he spoke again: “I know. I know. I have to try.” Pompili was on his way to interview the operators of a home for mentally challenged […]
Article · February 28, 2011 by Michele McLellan
What do you do when you’re the parent of a profoundly deaf child seeking the best education and community possible? If you’re Devorah Ben-Moshe, you and your family moves to Austin, Texas, where The Texas School for the Deaf offers some of the best education–and the best community–in the world. But you don’t stop there–concerned […]
Article · February 27, 2011 by Michele McLellan