KNIGHT CHALLENGE: Next steps at the J-school

All J-schoolers should know about the Knight News Challenge (NewsChallenge.org), the open, worldwide contest that is offering a pot of $5 million a year for five years for innovative journalism projects that tie together a physical community and the Internet. Last year, two of the grants had Columbia connections. One, for $340,000, was won by a Columbia J-schooler (you may have read about David Cohn in the NYT "Week in Review") and another, for $600,000, was won by an incoming PhD student (who's postponed his arrival here so he can complete his multi-year project).

On Tuesday, Sept. 9, Susan Mernit, who is working with the Knight Foundation, visited the J-school to discuss the program, offer advice and much more. Several profs attended, too.

Lina Ejeilat, MS2009, was kind enough to share her notes from the briefing session and is also helping to coordinate some brainstorming sessions next week.

We're meeting up on Tuesday, September 23 at 5:00 pm at the Stabile Student Center to talk more about it, brainstorm and see who is interested in applying. Another meeting will take place Wednesday, the 24th at 5:45 in the same place.

Sign up for our new FB discussion thread on the J-school 2009 group: http://www.new.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=10497300901&topic=6984

 

The Knight News Challenge: Presentation by Susan Mernit - notes by Lina Ejeilat

• Mernit worked in online media back in 1990s, then software development. Ran netscape.com. Worked in New York and in Silicon Valley. Susan Mernit's blog: susanmernit.com
  

• See the full Knight News Challenge site at http://newschallenge.org
  See the 2008 winners at http://newschallenge.org/winners/2008
   
• This is a worldwide contest, and there are two more years of the cycle left, so if you don't get picked this round you can still apply next year.

• Check out garage.newschallenge.org, it's an incubator site for people to throw in their ideas and get feedback on them (more info below).
  
  
• Knight wanted to expand beyond traditional online journalism projects. They're looking mainly for diversity of the applications
  
  
• important point: Knight is a risk-taking organization
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • They would like to fund things that make people: you're gonna support WHAT??
  • They accept ideas that look completely great, or can totally fail
  • high tolerance for risk

• You can be an individual, don't have to be a registered organization. It can be one person, two people, or a group

• Main points to keep in mind:

• Project digitally focused. Has to be online, web-based, with a local and geographic focus, pick a town to start with, have a local hook
• Has to serve public interest
• Open-source re-scalability, you have to be willing to share it
• Either share the code, or share the learning and tell people what you've done
• To mashup or to replicate and roll out
• Think about how something like YouTube serves the public interest
• Calling it a journalism program doesn't fit anymore...
• you can think of something that is more content based, but even if you are a more web focused tech person who wants to develop some software, you can apply, platforms and tools - like Drupal. 

• Last year, you had the choice of making the idea open or closed, but this year they're all open on the garage because it's not the idea, it's the ability to execute it

News Challenge Garage:

• The News Challenge Garage, anyone with an idea can put it in the garage and get feedback... or get mentors. Coaching...

• they will track how many people on the garage actually submit an application, or actually win...
  
  
• The garage has 45 projects now  
  
  
• There's not a high degree of risks if you share your idea.
  

Other notes:

• On the News Challenge site, you can read about the winners, the projects, the FAQs have details.

• Don't let past winners confine you into thinking: "this is what I think they want"We want things that are radical. we want half the things we fund to fail... we don't care. It can be something that already started, that is already out there. 

• Last year Knight funded 17 projects, there was real diversity.interesting ideas, well-thought-out, and an edge to it. don't feel bounded... if you can leverage what has been done before and add something innovative to it, Knight will love it.. to include some past things but is original

• Knight has a special category for people who are 25 and younger

• If they fund you they will help support you, you can get very engaged... They help set you up.

• For some people, the project, if they win,  will be a full-time job, for others it isn't

• Some people just ask for $15,000.

• Adrian Holovaty had a great job,  editor of editorial innovation at theWashington Post, and he quit that job for his project: EveryBlock.com, which got $2 million on funding.
  

Application Process:

• Two-step process: Submit an application... deadline: November 1st

• First round is super easy, 300 words on what your idea is
  It can be a crazy idea
  The 2nd round takes more time with budget and stuff
  

• screeners sort applications
  
  
• you either move ahead or not

• last year out 3,000 applications, 400 proposals

• You can submit as many ideas as you want, someone last year submitted 14
  
  
• The project doesn't have to be in English, but application has to be in English

• It's an iterative process with no penalties

• Last year, 40% of applicants were international, two had projects in India, there was one in South Africa, on in Russia - you get the idea
  

• Spend time on the past winners, see what worked and what didn't

Question: How executable does it have to be at this point?

• you'd have a stronger proposal if you say that you've already made contacts. Get buy-in from external people
  

• The judges will think: how executable is it? Put in contacts, names, a quote from someone may be... really sell the project like you pitch a story to an editor

Q: What if the project involves hiring people?

• Then you budget for the staff (including you, if necessary) and it is typically for two years... they can try it out for two years. But Knight will not fund anyone for much more than that.

David Cohn, J-school grad who won last year, appeared via recorded video:

• Spot.us is his project ($340,000)
  

• Find him on: digidave.org

• He says it's "super easy" and wants everyone to apply. 

Lisa Williams, who won two years ago, was also present at the briefing:

•  Her project, Placeblogger.com,  was a project she already started earlier.

• She asked for $200,000.

• The initial site was to showcase local blogs

• placeblogger is now the largest aggregator of local blogs, what Knight funded was a way to build local aggregator software to get readers to local blogs... very useful for reporting and story ideas- Emphasis on technology AND community.

• A lot of people came from media didn't have good technical ideas... on the Garage you can look for tech partners, you can pull people in, there's money for that in funding.

• a lot of money is for writing code, someone coordinating the project... etc.

• She says: "Innovation has become incredibly cheap." If your idea doesn't get funded, do it anyway.