Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, recently explained that the newspaper is now as much a technology company as a journalism company.

This year’s South by South West Interactive (SxSWi) indicates he’s not the only one thinking that way. When the conference started 16 years ago, it was strictly tech, a convening of engineers, software developers and coders. But this year, everywhere you turned, it seemed, there was another journalist and or media organizations. And there were many panels about technology and the future of news.

It demonstrates how far media organizations have come in embracing technology and using it in “digitally native” ways to inform and engage their communities.

-- By Jose Zamora, Journalism Program Associate, Knight Foundation

With political leaders pledging great transparency, do we still need Sunshine Week to promote open government?

Absolutely.

This year's Knight Open Government Survey, done by George Washington University's  National Security Archive,  found that only 13 of 90 surveyed federal agencies have made any concrete changes to their Freedom of Information practices even though the president directed them to do so a year ago.

The day after the survey story appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and elsewhere, the White House chief of staff and the counsel to the president wrote a memo to the agency heads noting "more work remains" and asking them to "take action" to ensure "full implementation" of President Obama's Jan. 21 2009 memo.

Other highlights:

This year's presidential statement marking Sunshine Week, citing the progress since last year.

The Scripps Poll, showing that 70 percent of U.S. adults believe the federal government is secretive.

Headlines from around the country marking the week.

Sunshine Week started in 2005 as a project of the American Society of News Editors along with dozens of other groups, with funding from Knight Foundation.   The foundation later endowed the annual event, which promotes the importance of open government and freedom of information.

-- By Eric Newton, Knight Foundation Vice President

Zimbabwe novelist Chenjerai Hove will be calling Miami home for at least the next two years. As a guest of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Hove will give guest lectures to Miami Dade students, and also interact with the general public by attending a variety of community events. His stay was coordinated by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College.

This is the first time the city of Miami takes part in the International Cities of Refuge Network—an organization that provides a safe haven to writers who are persecuted in their home countries.

In Zimbabwe, Hove is ranked No. 17 on the government’s Enemies of the State list and his life has also been threatened several times.

Hove is working on a memoir examining how violence came to be such a regular part of Zimbabwe’s political system.

He is best known for his 1989 novel, Bones, which tells the story of a poor farm mother who loses her son in the Zimbabwean war of liberation.

--Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

Vince Stehle, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

Philanthropy New York recently convened a debate and discussion about the future of journalism and the vital role of news and information in healthy communities. Columbia J School professor Michael Schudson, co-author with Leonard Downie of the The Reconstruction of American Journalism, elaborated on the controversial report’s call for increased government support for news gathering activities, pointing out that there has long been public support of publishing activities through postal subsidies and many other streams of support. Besides which, he argued, many liberal democracies – United Kingdom, Sweden and France among them – have shown that robust public media can flourish without political pressure and influence.

Ford Foundation Program Officer Calvin Sims acknowledged some appropriate roles for government support of media, but cautioned against rash reactions. Sims, a longtime reporter with The New York Times, with significant experience in multimedia production, agreed that journalism is a field in transition, but did not concede that we have reached a crisis point demanding dramatic federal intervention. Despite some differences in emphasis, Schudson and Sims agreed that there is a role for some government support of media.

Although the Downie-Schudson report has gained most notoriety for its recommendations regarding government support for journalism, the report also calls on philanthropy to increase its support for news organizations and accountability reporting. In addition, it urges academic institutions and public broadcasters to step up their local news reporting activities. And perhaps its least controversial suggestion is that journalists, nonprofit organizations and governments should all do more to increase the accessibility and usefulness of government information – a recommendation that echoes in large measure the findings of the Knight Commission report, Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age.

NPR won big at the White House News Photographers Association’s "Eyes of History" contest, which recognizes achievements in photojournalism. With 15 awards, the list of winners is long but can be found here. Congratulations NPR!

The video below won first place for the best use of photography and audio (without narration).

— Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

Ashoka, a Knight Foundation grantee, asked its fellows to offer predictions for 2010. The fellows were asked the following questions: what changes will 2010 bring, what will you make happen in 2010 and what changes do you hope to see by the end of the coming decade. One fellow, Sanjana Hattotuwa, stood out with his responses.

For the first question, regarding changes in 2010, here is a piece of what Hattotuwa had to say:

We will lose friends and colleagues in 2010. Some of us will be killed or imprisoned, or called terrorists and forced to leave the home and country we love first, and the most. All of us will use our own media to tell our stories, competing with the narratives of others. The best narratives we consume, remember, and compel us to act will be those that inspire us, showcase resilience, simple acts of defiance and courage and even of violence against injustice… All journalists will realize that to sustain empathy in protracted conflict, to communicate the horror of a program or genocide, to influence progressive policy and strengthen aid, stories need to be personal, compelling and inspire hope.

To read all of Hattotuwa’s responses, click here.

-- Marly Falcon, contributing blogger of Knight Foundation

Sunshine Week is honoring local heroes. Mark Mahoney is one of them. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his open government coverage and ASNE’s editorial award in 2004.

Mahoney is an editorial page editor at the Post Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. His editorials focus on the dangers of government secrecy.

Here are a few samples of his work.

-- Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

SochiReporter, a 2008 Knight News Challenge winner, was presented in 240 McDonald’s restaurants throughout Russia.

The fast-food chain placed hundreds of thousands of leaflets on every food tray of every patron over the course of 14 days.

The leaflets, which included SochiReporter’s logo and URL, informed customers of SochiReporter’s support of McDonald’s World Children’s Day, and also thanked its other media partners.

The partnership brought 35 percent more visitors to SochiReporter.com and 30 percent more content uploads by citizen journalists.

SochiReporter launched in October 2009, allowing the people of Sochi, the Russian resort city hosting the 2014 Olympics, to use the latest online tools to discuss and influence the impact of the Games.

--Marly Falcon, contributing blogger of Knight Foundation

This year’s Sunshine Week contest, which will be announced March 14-20, will honor local heroes of open government.

The efforts of these local heroes, whose work has made their communities a better place to live, will be recognized among media organizations and other groups throughout the nation.

Since 2005, Sunshine Week has been held annually to discuss the importance of open government and freedom of information.

The American Society of News Editors will conduct a contest to identify the top three Local Heroes of 2010.

For those interested in nominating a local hero, please fill out a nomination form. The deadline is Feb. 26.

-- Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

Two Knight Foundation grantees have made MIT Technology Review’s list of 10 technologies to watch.

Printcasting, a project of Participata, which is currently testing a service that allows amateur publishers to create newsletters and magazines, is supported by an $837,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge.

The second Knight Foundation project on the list is the Ushahidi Engine, which is developing an open-source platform that allows amateur and professional journalists to respond rapidly to regional crises through mobile phone, e-mail or Web interface.

For the remaining eight technologies to watch, follow the link.

-- Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger