What would you do to innovate journalism if you had the funding? The Knight News Challenge is in it’s third year of a five year plan to provide $25 million in grants for geo-focused open source projects which drive innovation in journalism. I’m very excited to be involved in this year’s competition as an application screener along with a team of web and new media thought leaders. Led by News Challenge program manager, Susan Mernit, the screener team met in San Francisco on September 5th for a day of training and discussion.
This is a great opportunity for mobile developers to achieve funding for projects that apply location services and the strengths of mobile devices for capturing and delivering media in real-time. The core requirements for a winning application include the following.
- Must be a digital innovation applied to journalism
- Must apply to a specific geography which can be replicated to other geographies
- Must be built on open source technologies
For more information on how to apply for the News Challenge visit the web site.If you need assistance in framing your application or refining your idea, the News Challenge is also providing a virtual “Garage” where applicants can interact with mentors.