If you have an idea for 21st century community media, you can get help with honing it from a mentor through the
Knight News Challenge Garage, a service that launched last month.
The Garage is a support system for the Knight News Challenge program, which awards grants to news and information projects that:
- Use or create digital, open-source technology as the code base.
- Serve the public interest.
- Benefit one or more specific geographic communities.
Whether you use the Garage or not, this year's News Challenge application period ends on Nov. 1. Here's how to apply. So far, grants have ranged from $15,000 to $5 million.
In 2007, the second year of this program, Knight gave entrants the opportunity to get input on their ideas from each other and the public. Mentoring is a new addition to help this year's entrants mentors strengthen their proposals. All mentors are involved in projects that previously won News Challenge grants.
But if you need to keep your idea a secret, the News Challenge Garage may not be right for you. This site -- and all the project ideas discussed there -- can be read by anyone. So the tradeoff for getting help there is that people will know about your idea. (However, depending on the information you include in your profile on the site, they may or may not figure out who you are.)
Here's one News Challenge project idea in progress that I like: screen newspapers. This project, which would be piloted in the developing nation of Malawi, would place screens showing news in places where people congregate, such as bus stations and restaurants. According to the project page, Malawi currently has no morning newspapers or news sites.
I like this project because it would bring technology and civic media to people who can't afford much. Something similar could also help underserved communities in the U.S.
The Garage shows that help is needed by many would-be News Challenge applicants. Several project ideas presented there either don't make their points well or don't seem to understand the competition's requirements. Here are some common flaws I've noticed:
- Not making clear whether or how they would serve a specific geographic community.
- Leading with background information.
- Leading with information about what apparently already exists, rather than what the entrants hope to accomplish, or what they are proposing to use the grant for.
Have you check out the ideas in the News Challenge Garage? What do you think?
