The documentary includes several interviews from people from the news industry, including Eric Newton, vice president of journalism at the Knight Foundation.

The documentary recently aired on PBS and is available on DVD .

            --Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

NPR.org recently won a Peabody Award for general excellence.

“I can tell you unequivocally that this would not have happened without the Knight digital training,” said Vivian Schiller, President and CEO of NPR.

NPR’s Afghanistan reporter, Soraya Nelson, also won a Peabody Award, along with Diane Rehm, who won an individual excellence award.

Here’s a link showcasing the work of NPR’s Knight trainees.

      --Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism is awarding $1,000 to the journalist doing the most innovative environmental coverage.

If you’ve come up with a new idea that is changing the way environmental news and information is communicated -- if you are using social media or  iPhone apps.  to cover the environment or pioneering with a new economic model or type of coverage -- you are encouraged to apply.

To enter, fill out an application form. The contest is looking for innovations that are actually being tried or experimented with. In no more than 1,000 words, write about your idea. Include three letters of recommendation. A panel of experts will evaluate the idea and determine the winner.

Applicants must submit a proposal by April 30, 2010 to the Knight Center via e-mail at ej@msu.edu or by mail to:

EJ Innovator of the Year Award

Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, Room 382

Communication Arts Building

East Lansing, MI 48824-1212

The winner will also receive an all expenses paid trip to speak about her/his idea at a conference in Michigan State University to celebrate the School of Journalism’s 100^th anniversary the weekend of Oct. 22-24, 2010.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are you looking for in an entry?

A: We seek examples of new technology, journalism techniques or other innovative efforts that advance environmental reporting and the public understanding of environmental issues. It could be a new way of financially supporting environmental journalism.  It could be something that tells an environmental story that otherwise would not be told. It could be a new way of publicly reporting an environmental issue. It could be a new way of engaging people to help report credibly on the environment. It could be something else. We’re looking for innovations and you may have tried something that doesn’t fit into any neat categories.

Q: That’s hard to envision. You got an example?

A: Hey, if it were easy there wouldn’t be an award for it. But maybe this will give you a bit of the flavor: Last year journalism students at Northwestern University developed a measure of how green the Congressional elections were swinging as the votes came in. Something like that would have been given consideration if we had the award then.

Of course, if you figure out a new way to financially support environmental journalism, all of us win much more than this award.

Q: What don’t you want?

A: This is not a contest for the best environmental news story of the year.

Q: Can it be an idea for an innovation?

A: No. It must be something that has been actually put to use between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2009.

Q: Must it be created by a news organization?

A: It can be. But we also encourage entries from people or organizations that are not necessarily affiliated with journalism. Anyone is eligible to enter.

Q: Can it be a Web site?

A: C’mon, we’re looking for innovation. The Web has been around more than a few years. A Web site might be the delivery platform, but the winner will have to do more than simply report environmental stories online.

Q: What can I win?

A: $1,000 and a handsome plaque.

Q: Will this contest continue in the future?

A: We hope that it will be an annual event. A lot depends upon what happens this year and whether we can obtain funding to support this competition in the future. This year’s contest is being supported by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Q: Will I win anything else?

A: Yes. Winners will be asked to discuss their innovation with students and faculty at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism during the J-School’s centennial celebrations the weekend of Oct. 22 to 24, 2010. All of your expenses will be paid.

--Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger

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

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

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.

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

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

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