This year's "Knight News Challenge" award contest is open - and they are looking to give away as much as $5m for innovative ideas "using digital experiments to transform community news." I love innovation contests like this one and they have in the past rewarded and funded some great work.

They say "(t)he goal is to spur innovation in the delivery of information and news using digital media." And in answer to the question "(w)hat kind of projects will get funded?" they say:

If you can say yes to every one of these, then your idea qualifies for submission:

* Digital – Your idea uses digital technology (computers, the internet, cell phones, that sort of thing).
* Innovative – Your idea is new and original. It’s different from what people have done before. You are, in some way, breaking new ground.
* News/information – Your idea is about giving people access to what they want to know.
* Timely – Your idea delivers news or information while it’s still fresh.
* Community-building – Your idea helps create a sense of community among some group of individuals.
* Limited geographic area – Your idea affects people in a specific area, which could be as big as a state or province, or as small as a city block. (If your idea is national or worldwide in scope, it must work at a regional level.)
* Open Source – The inner workings of what you create will be visible to the world, so that others can take it and improve upon it.

Past winning projects included some innovative folks we know like Ethan Zuckerman and Steven Clift, and projects covering:
* Open-source software that will let citizens find public information about their neighborhoods.
* Young journalists covering the 2008 presidential election on cell phones, for cell phones.
* Online games to inform and engage players about key issues confronting New York City.
* Digital newscasts for Philadelphia's immigrant community distributed through a new citywide wireless platform.

(Anyone want to partner on developing an innovative online service, we at Forum One would be interested to talk!)


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Knight News Challenge
Knight Foundation