A New Century Challenge for Great Community Journalism

The Knight Foundation’s Gary Kebbel writes:

We’re seeking your comment, and that of your readers, on a multimillion dollar request for proposals that we are calling “The Knight Brothers 21st Century News Challenge.”

The request will be issued in September, but now we are seeking ideas that will help us shape the rules of the challenge.

If you had millions of dollars to give away to improve news and community, how would you do it?

(Note that our emphasis in this challenge is on physical communities, not virtual ones, except as they create or strengthen physical communities.)

How can cyberspace improve life in physical space?

We’re seeking organizations, companies or individuals that will do in the 21st century what the Knight brothers’ newspapers did in the 20th century. Those newspapers helped define communities. They described the happenings and defined obstacles and opportunities. They created a sense of place by creating a shared experience. They did it with integrity and insight. They created a critical mass of thinking and feeling. Their news was the glue that held communities together.

How can information, news and journalism perform those functions in the 21st century? That’s the Knight Brothers 21st Century News Challenge.

You can read more information and join the discussion here.

I’ll be posting a response soon, and encourage you to weigh in as well.