# Knight News Challenge offers $5 million for digital community development

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/10/03/knight-news-challenge-offers-5m-digital-community-development/
- Published: 2008-10-03T11:00:08+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

![](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/files/images/news/Knight_foundation_whatsyouridea_1223031591.
jpg)

Do you have a big idea for informing and inspiring a geographic community using 
social media, Web 2.0 tools or OpenID? The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
has launched its Knight News Challenge, offering up to $5 million for innovative
ideas from around the world that use digital innovation “to transform community 
news and information exchange”.

To support applications, Knight has created the [News Challenge Garage](http://garage.newschallenge.org),
where prospective applicants can receive peer reviews and mentoring from screeners
and awardees from previous years. Fifty mentors including [Beth Kanter](http://www.bethkanter.org)
are available to coach and guide applicants.

The first two years year of the contest produced individual, private and public 
winners including:

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* ChiTownDailyNews.org: Recruits and trains a network of 75 citizen journalists –
one in each Chicago neighborhood.

* Everyblock.com: Allows citizens of a large city to learn (and act on) civic information
about their neighborhood or block.

* Spot.us: Pays for local investigative reporting by soliciting financial support
from the public.

Entries must have three elements:

1) use of a digital media;

2) delivery of news or information on a shared basis to

3) a geographically defined community.

Entries must be open-source and share the software and knowledge created.

The deadline for applications is 1 November 2008.

www.newschallenge.org

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 * **[A Guide to Local Trusts in the North of England](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/10/12/amazon-242/)**(
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