MIAMI – Knight Foundation has just published Listening and Learning 2004, the latest update from our Community Indicators Project. The book describes the most important findings of our conversations with more than 20,000 residents of Knight Foundation communities and our review of hundreds of thousands of electronic and paper records.

Taken together, the conversations and the measures reveal individuals’ impressions of their hometowns and track changes over time. The indicators cover areas of public life that are the focus of our grant making: well-being of children and families; vitality of cultural life; civic engagement and positive human relations; housing and community development; education; and economic development. From Knight’s web site (www.knightfdn.org), users can download or order copies of much more comprehensive reports on individual communities.

For this update, Knight Foundation’s second round of indicators, we talked with more than 20,000 people in Knight Foundation’s 26 communities, and we sorted through hundreds of thousands of electronic and paper records. Taken together, the conversations with community residents and the 84 administrative measures reveal individuals’ impressions of their hometowns and trace actual changes over time. The indicators describe aspects of public life that are the focus of our grant making: well-being of children and families; vitality of cultural life; civic engagement and positive human relations; housing and community development; education; and economic development. This book provides a sweeping summary of highlights across our communities.

All of Knight’s indicators reports and data are available for unlimited use by community developers, researchers, government institutions and non-profit organizations. Knight welcomes new and innovative applications for the material.

Complimentary copies of Listening and Learning 2004 are available. Requests can be made via e-mail to: [email protected]. Listening and Learning 2004 and the Appendix to Listening and Learning 2004 are also available as PDF documents online at: http://knightfoundation.org/media/uploads/media_pdfs/2004_Listening_And_Learning.pdf.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities.