Knight News Challenge – Help us brainstorm ideas before Oct. 15

Update: We sent in 11 directly and were partners in a couple other proposals.

E-Democracy.Org plans to submit a number of audacious million dollar ideas to the next round of the Knight News Challenge. First round submissions are due October 15.

We are drafting our ideas publicly via our wiki here:

http://pages.e-democracy.org/Knight_News_Challenge_2007_drafting

Many of these ideas will become future grant proposals tied to our strategic plan and ratings from our participants in the survey we did last summer.

Steven Clift
Chair

P.S. Here are the results from question 8 in the survey – some ideas may be ideal future grants, others enhancements supported by donations and volunteer efforts:

8. E-Democracy.Org envisions investing in shared tools and new project models. We need to prioritize efforts to seek grant support for new initiatives. Check those ideas that interest you most (up to five)

Response Percent Response Count

Community Life and News Blog – Promoting citizen journalism and news. 32.0% 80

Community Survey – A platform for thousands across your community to answer and propose serious survey questions on local issues. 42.4% 106

Events Calendar – Announcements and alerts on public community, government and political events and meetings. 54.8% 137

Community Today – Local headlines from blogs, the media, government, as well as local photos, videos, audio all in one convenient place (aka a “mashup” supported by recent advances in technology) 29.6% 74

Local Wiki – Like ‘wikipedia’ but community content developed by Issues Forum members. 30.4% 76

Democracy Tune-up – A public-led review and grading of online activities of the local government, media, and political groups on their support for democracy online. Accountability and comparison encourages a strong community-wide foundation for online citizen participation. 34.0% 85

International Community Exchange – Ask questions and share ideas and experiences with other active citizens across our entire network to help each other our improve own local community. 28.8% 72

Online Events – Special topics explored in-depth to influence decision-making or promote greater understanding, sometimes called an online “town hall” meeting or e-consultation. 34.0% 85

Solution Forums – Online work spaces to support community collaboration, local government task forces, that help implement policy or support direct citizen problem-solving. 43.6% 109

Community Webcasts and Podcasting – Online audio and video access for community meetings and events. 30.0% 75

Activism Tools – Tools provided on a non-partisan basis, like e-petitions or activist alert tools that can be used by those supporting (or opposing) a local cause. 32.8% 82

Neighborhood/Neighbourhood Life Forums – Very local conversations mixing daily life (new developments, crime, schools, exchanging service tips, youth activities, etc.) , public issues, and community announcements. 36.4% 91

Election Toolkit – Platform for online candidate debates, voter guides, information about your local ballot and polling locations. 45.6% 114

Digital Inclusion – Training and outreach program for local adaptation to promote use of online tools for community involvement among the least connected 31.6% 79