WASHINGTON, DC (October 2, 2009) — The New America Foundation today announced a fellowship program aimed at tracking and critiquing national media policy changes under a new grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The grant was announced the same day the Knight Commission for the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy issued its report suggesting media policy changes.
As part of its new Media Policy Initiative, the New America Foundation will host Knight Media Policy Fellowships, designed to attract creative thinkers in old and new media who will track, critique and suggest media policy change during the next two years.
Among other efforts, the fellows will follow up on “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age,” a report issued today by the Knight Commission on Information Needs.
“This is an important time for media policy,” said Eric Newton, vice president of Knight Foundation’s journalism program. “We’re in a new, digital age — and the news ecosystem is changing rapidly. The New America Foundation is well-equipped to look at this issue.”
Building on the reports’ findings, Knight Media Policy Fellows will focus on policies to reform public media, increase independent reporting on issues of public interest, and better help citizens access and engage with high-quality information. By tracking and critiquing policy initiatives at the federal level, and innovative media efforts in communities across the country, the fellows will report on both the successes and failures, along with their implications for the Knight Commission’s recommendations to reform journalism nationwide.
“Journalism has entered a transformative period of experimentation and rapid evolution,” New America CEO Steve Coll said. “Digital technologies are collapsing the barriers to entry, paving the way for new business models and previously excluded perspectives. Yet the rate of destruction of professional journalism — and its output of independent, skilled reporting on public institutions and issues of public interest — is far outpacing the ability of new outlets to reproduce what is being lost. The Media Policy Initiative is aimed at addressing these losses, nurturing the many innovations, and charting a course toward constructive action and policy change.”
About the New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States. For more, visit www.newamerica.net
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950, the foundation has granted more than $400 million to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Media Contacts:
- Kate Brown, New America Foundation, 202-596-3365 or [email protected].
- Marc Fest, Knight Foundation Vice President of Communications, (305) 908-2677