Here is the information from a Knight Press Release:

Twenty-one innovative ideas that will help residents lead informed lives have received $5 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The projects are the first winners of the Knight Community Information Challenge, a five-year, $24 million initiative to help community foundations support creative ways to use new media and technology to keep communities engaged.

“At Knight Foundation, we firmly believe that you cannot effectively manage the affairs of a community in a democracy without the free flow of information. That’s why we believe that information is a core community need, as critical as any to a healthy community,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation’s president and CEO. “Our goal at Knight is informed and engaged communities. Community foundations were established to meet core community needs, so they are logical partners.”

“The range and variety of projects naturally reflects the differences between communities and the consequent interests of community foundations.”

The winning projects include:

* A hyperlocal news site staffed by professional journalists and citizen contributors in the five ethnically diverse towns of Connecticut’s Lower Naugatuck Valley – which have lost their newspaper and local radio station over the last decade. The site will be modeled after an online news source in nearby New Haven.
* “Story-stations” in underserved communities throughout San Diego, including the region’s 18 Indian reservations. The reports will be produced and distributed through a newly created digital news network spearheaded by the local start-up voiceofsandiego.org.
* A state-wide competition in Minnesota to come up with the best solutions to community problems. Priorities will be identified through community listening sessions in conjunction with Minnesota Public Radio. Winning ideas will become a reality, thanks to grants from the Minnesota Community Foundation and its partners.

See all the winners here.

Look at this interview as a benefit of reading the PJNet.org. Why? Because the odds of having a smart proposal approved are very good. Read on.

Leonard Witt: Tell me a little about the Knight Community Information Challenge, why is Knight involved and for what end?

Mike Maidenberg: Knight Foundation is deeply interested in how information flows in physical communities. We know the power of the web in specialized fields. What we are trying to understand and experiment with is how the web can be used to tie local communities together, with the newspaper a model from the past.

Witt: How did newspapers do that in the past?
Mike Maidenberg: A newspaper was generally a broad-reaching media vehicle. It touched the entire geography of a region. It was wide, but often not deep. When I was a publisher, it was accurate to say the reach of the newspaper matched the community’s boundaries economically, culturally and in many other ways. Local television broadcasts also had broad distribution. I should emphasize that we see both newspapers and television still very much in the game, but their audiences are skewing older.

Witt: Sure, but the whole idea of public journalism grew because newspapers — and other mass media — were not very well connected with their communities. There were lots of people left out of the conversation, which mostly was between reporters and experts. Who wants to go back to that?
Maidenberg: There were lots of faults with the way newspapers and other mass media operated, including as you note people being left out of the conversation. But still the news columns made it possible for everyone in a community to get a sense of what is going on, what the problems and challenges are. A newspaper could report on educational attainment gaps, job losses, use of public monies for arenas, etc. If there is no general platform on which a conversation in the community can be held, that is a matter of concern.

We don’t see an online newspaper emerging that will replicate the print product. We do see lots of interesting ideas emerging. We don’t know the answers. We do want to encourage experimentation. One way is through the community foundation initiative.

Witt: You say, “One way is through the community foundation initiative.” There are now so many Knight challenges — news and information initiatives — it is hard to keep them straight. What’s that about, why so many? Why not just seek folks out with good idea and give them the money?
Maidenberg: Yes, there are several challenges, but each has a strategic focus. A few minutes on the web site will help. We are in fact seeking folks out, but we are doing it by asking for proposals and ideas from all parts of society.

Witt: Can you give us a hint of the kind of ideas that might hit the jackpot with this initiative?
Maidenberg: Does the idea show that a community foundation is experimenting with the information needs of its community? Does the community foundation accept information as a core community need? Does the proposal by the community foundation show that the community foundation is exercising community leadership?

These are the principles we will be looking at. The specifics will certainly vary community by community. Blogging, digital connectivity, digital mapping—these ideas and more have been suggested. But it will depend on how they fit within every community and community foundation.

In the community foundation initiative, requests for grant support will come from community foundations, who in turn will deal with new ideas, organizations, individuals, coalitions, etc.

Witt: Okay, let’s try this a little differently. Is there a community foundation that you or Knight now thinks is doing an exemplary job of fostering or facilitating the exchange of information across its community? Do you have some kind of ideal in mind?/em>
Maidenberg: We see many community foundations active in the area, but none that have reached far enough to be an ideal. That’s what we are trying to bring forth. I personally don’t know that there will be a single ideal or model. More than likely it will vary by community. The important thing is that a community foundation is engaged with information, considering it as important as housing, education, jobs, etc.

Witt: I want to get back to this: You said, “In the community foundation initiative, requests for grant support will come from community foundations, who in turn will deal with new ideas, organizations, individuals, coalitions, etc. ” So how do you see this working? Do you foresee community foundations coming up with great ideas and then seeking partners, or people and local institutions with great ideas banging on community foundation doors and trying to work a deal that begins with a proposal to this Knight challenge?
Maidenberg: We held a media seminar in February this year which attracted 70+ community foundations. They got a grounding in how the media is changing, and the speed of change. We see some of these community foundations, and others, proposing ideas. It will work all the better if people and local institutions bang on community foundation doors. So both ways are possible. But the proposals need to come from community foundations.

Witt: Hmmm, 70+ community foundations. Wow, I like those odds. So do you see elaborate proposals let’s say like an online information exchange built on complicated software or more simple stuff like teaching folks in the community how to use video cameras and make their own news?
Maidenberg: As always, there will be a range. We’ve heard of some community foundations thinking about elaborate digital public squares, but others are considering how to get more coverage of education, and would like to have an education reporter stationed somewhere to talk about issues. What we are most confident of is that Knight Foundation in Miami cannot figure out what will work best in a particular community. The best ideas, big or small, will come from the community itself.

Witt: Great information, so what did I forget to ask that will help community foundations, institutions or individuals understand this better?
Maidenberg: You covered all the key questions. I would only emphasize again the importance of going to the web site, looking at the information there, especially the FAQ.

I am going to try to learn more about how this might be a backdoor way for citizens to get their projects jump started. Here is the key graph from an early press release explaining the project:

A $24 million initiative by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will engage community foundations in a grant-making challenge to find creative uses of media and technology to help keep communities informed and their citizens engaged

After you check out the press release be sure to get more background information from my PJNet.org video with Eric Newton of the Knight Foundation.

Here is today’s press release in full:

New Knight Initiative Seeks to Address Local Information Needs Engaging Community Foundations

$24 Million, Five-Year Project Spurs Innovation through Challenge Grants

MIAMI – A $24 million initiative by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will engage community foundations in a grant-making challenge to find creative uses of media and technology to help keep communities informed and their citizens engaged.

The five-year Knight Community Information Challenge is launched as the media world undergoes rapid change and acknowledges that there is less local information readily available. The challenge is premised on two strongly held beliefs: 1) in a democracy, information is essential for a community to function properly; it is a core need, and 2) since community foundations are established to meet core community needs, they are logical partners in meeting the information needs of communities.

This initiative is also seen as an opportunity for community foundations to provide civic leadership.

The Knight initiative has three parts:

• A grant-making program will invite community foundations to propose ideas to meet information needs in their communities. Knight will make $20 million available over five years to match funding for the best of these ideas.
•  Once the winners are chosen, teams of “circuit riders” – specialists who bring access to resources and expertise – will be available to help community foundations address their information-needs opportunities. The teams will help community foundations develop the ability to plan and execute their ideas.
• The project includes a Media Learning Seminar on Feb. 16-17, 2009 to help community foundations learn about the information needs of communities in a democracy. The first such seminar of this kind was held in February 2008 when Knight and the Council on Foundations co-hosted a gathering in Miami. The 2009 seminar will offer an opportunity to exchange current knowledge, review existing information needs projects and share best practices. A companion meeting hosted by the Council on Foundations in October 2009 will reach out to more community foundations.

“Many community foundation executives and board members told us they were ready to embrace information as a core part of their mission,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation president and CEO. “Now it’s time for action. Foundations that value information as an essential element for healthy community advancement – whether neighborhood, town, city or region – will find us a willing partner. By inviting the initiatives to come from the communities, we expect them to be both relevant to local needs and varied.”

The challenge is open to all community foundations. Knight plans to consider ideas from other foundations whose focus is local, geographically defined communities, similar to community foundations.

The Knight Community Information Challenge involves a two-step process. Community foundations can visit www.informationneeds.org to propose a project in 200 words or less between June 30 and Sept. 15. Those selected to submit full proposals will be notified within a week of receipt, and full proposals will be due Oct. 15. Each full proposal will be required to provide matching funds.

The initiative is the fourth in a series of Media Innovation Initiatives created by Knight to address the information needs of communities in a democracy. They include:

• The Knight News Challenge, funding ideas that use digital media to deliver news and information to geographically defined communities (www.newschallenge.org);
• The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, in partnership with the Aspen Institute, will propose public policy that will facilitate meeting those needs (www.knightcomm.org); and
• The Knight Center for Digital Excellence, a nonprofit consultancy, helps communities across the United States ensure digital access for every citizen (www.knightcenter.info).

If you want community foundation funding for local journalism projects, Newton says do your homework. Look at this Knight Foundation site and look specifically at the survey Knight did with community foundations. Then go pay your foundation a visit.