Posted on September 6, 2012

Knight Foundation Announces Community Information Challenge Winners

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced grants totaling $3.67 million to twenty winners of the Knight Community Information Challenge.

The grants will support the implementation of ideas for local news and information projects backed by community or place-based foundations. Among other things, the grants will be used to train journalists and community members in Boston on how to better use data in reporting; bolster news collaboratives in California, Oregon and New Jersey; and empower communities in Florida, Mississippi, and the National Capital Region around a range of social issues.

Recipients include the Oregon Community Foundation ($302,000), which, in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting and local newspapers, will use the funds to create a Northwest News Cooperative; the Chicago Community Trust ($252,000), which will use its grant to create apps and other tools that increase the utility of local government data on behalf of the community; the Community Foundation in Jacksonville ($102,000), which will use its grant to create a Web site that serves as a hub of community information, interaction and engagement for residents of Duval County; and the Arizona Community Foundation ($57,000), which will use the funds to help Flagstaff's two largest news organization provide better real-time information about wildfires, floods, hazmat incidents, and other disasters in the region.

"These foundations join the eighty-plus community and place-based foundations who are leading by informing and engaging the public on issues they care about," said Knight Foundation vice president for communities Trabian Shorters.

For a complete list of Knight Community Information Challenge winners, visit the Knight Foundation Web site.