Any ideas on digital communities limited to a physical area? This is your chance.

The Knight News Challenge is a contest run by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has earmarked $25 million over a five-year period.

The goal is to spur innovation in the delivery of information and news using digital media.

Whether it’s election coverage, crime statistics, little league scores, road conditions or anything else; we’re looking for smart, innovative solutions that connect people with the news and information that matters to them most.

If your idea fulfills all below, then your idea qualifies for submission:

* Digital – Your idea uses digital technology (computers, the internet, cell phones, that sort of thing).
* Innovative – Your idea is new and original. It’s different from what people have done before. You are, in some way, breaking new ground.
* News/information – Your idea is about giving people access to what they want to know.
* Timely – Your idea delivers news or information while it’s still fresh.
* Community-building – Your idea helps create a sense of community among some group of individuals.
* Limited geographic area – Your idea affects people in a specific area, which could be as big as a state or province, or as small as a city block. (If your idea is national or worldwide in scope, it must work at a regional level.)
* Open Source – The inner workings of what you create will be visible to the world, so that others can take it and improve upon it

http://newschallenge.org/

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation invests in journalism excellence worldwide and in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities. Since 1950 the foundation has granted more than $300 million to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression. It focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.