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Knight Foundation announces third year of the Knight News Challenge

Posted: 03/09/08 By: Judith Townend
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The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced the >third year of its , which will give out up to $5 million for new ideas for 'digital experiments to transform community news and information exchange'.

This year’s competition slogan is ‘You Invent It. We Fund It’ and is open to entrants globally, from any professional background, a press release from the foundation said.

The challenge has added a news incubator, a blog where prospective applicants can seek reviews from their peers and mentoring from previous years' entrants, to the current challenge with 50 experienced mentors on hand to help applicants.

Past winners of the prize include the ChiTownDailyNews.org, which recruits and trains networks of citizen journalists in Chicago's neighborhoods; Everyblock, which maps civic information on a neighborhood or block-by-block basis; and Spot.us, which pays for local investigative reporting by soliciting financial support from the public.

Winning entries must meet three criteria: use of digital media; delivery of news or information on a shared basis; and the involvement of a geographically defined community.

Entries must also be open source to help share the software and knowledge created.

The deadline for applications is November 1 2008.

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