Frequently Asked Questions

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950, the foundation has granted more than $400 million to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

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.

As much as $5 million will be given away this year. Anyone can apply.

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 most to them.

The only place you can apply is here on the Knight News Challenge web site. No applications are accepted by mail, e-mail, fax, or any other means.

First, you take about 20 minutes to fill out a simple form that tells us the essence of your idea. If we think your idea shows promise, we’ll ask you to write a full proposal. (This is to keep you from wasting a lot of time if we aren’t interested.)

This year we have two categories: an open category and a closed category. If you submit your idea under the open category, everyone will be able to read, rate and comment on your submission. If you submit under the closed category, your application will only be read by Knight staff and the panel of reviewers. However, if you are selected as a winner, Knight Foundation will then publicize the idea and you will eventually need to share the intellectual property you create with the world.

The “entry” is the first step of the application process, and it is fairly quick and easy to complete. The “proposal” is the second step, and it is more detailed. You will be notified whether or not you make it to the “proposal” stage. The deadline for the application phase is Dec. 15, 2009. The deadline for the full proposal phase is Jan. 31, 2010.

If you can say yes to every one of these, then your idea might win:

• Digital – Your idea uses digital open-source 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.
• Limited geographic area – Your idea affects people in a specific local 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. (Read more here.)

Knight Foundation will fund marketing and promotion of your idea, as well as what it takes to implement the idea. If universities apply, Knight does not pay universities' "overhead" costs.

The public rating and comment system is there to benefit the applicant. It's designed to give the applicant feedback. It enables individuals and organizations interested in the subject to have discussions regarding their projects and helps them improve their ideas, find out about things they might be missing and come up with new ideas or how to use the same project for something else. The discussion benefits both the public viewers and the applicants.

Knight Foundation reviewers are free to read the comments like anyone else, but are charged with using their experience and knowledge to judge how well a proposal meets Knight's criteria. Reviewers judge applications and proposals against the three basic criteria:

1. Use digital media
2. To distribute news and information
3. In a geographic determined community (local community)

The public rating and commenting is by no means the only parameter on which we choose the best projects. To choose the best projects what we give more weight to is our panel of experts.

We take the evaluation seriously and the process is very objective. It is interesting and important for us to learn what the public thinks, but we don't give grants based on the public rating.

We hope everyone is acting in good faith, but we understand that applicants can subjectively rate other entrants projects.

Yes, as long as it meets all of our other criteria - 1) using digital, open-source technology to 2) distribute news and information in 3) a specific local geographic community.

A project that includes training might win, as long as it's a component of something else.

Yes.

Yes, if you want funding to prove your concept and scale up to other localities, that would qualify for the contest.

By "open-source" we mean a digital open-source platform that uses a code base that can be used by anyone after the grant period to either replicate your project in their community or to build upon it. You will own your platform, but you will have to share under GPL or Creative Commons licensing.

If regard to making your entire project open and available to the public we mean the following: You'll need to share the intellectual property you create with the world. If you want to discuss how to create cell phone documentaries, for example, you'll blog about it. If you make pilot cell phone documentaries in a specific city, you'll share any source code and the process for how you created your project. If you create a national alliance of people who make cell phone documentaries, you'll make the technology available to all of them.

More questions about the open-source requirement and intellectual property issues appear below.

A defined geographic community. See "Where should my project take place?"

Knight staff, outside digital media experts and the foundation’s journalism advisory committee review entries. Senior staff recommends winners. Foundation trustees make the final decision.

Anyone, anywhere, from a high school student in Beijing to a business executive in New York.

This competition is open to nonprofits, companies or individuals of any age and anywhere in the world. The question is not who you are, but what kind of idea you have.

You do not need to be 18 years old to enter, but awards to minors will be made to an intermediary designated by Knight Foundation.

Yes, commercial ventures qualify. See also "Will you really fund a for-profit company?"

Yes, we encourage applications that play to the strengths of multiple partners.

Yes, you should apply again. We would hope that you could refine your first application by studying past winners as well as getting some answers from our chats and blogs about how to strengthen that application. You may also write to newschallenge@knightfoundation.org for comments about your previous application, and we can tell you what the reviewers said about it, in the hope that that will improve your application this year.

The project has to use digital media, but you don’t have to be a coder. You can contract for one, as long as you have an idea of what you want to do and have great content.

You have to be 25 when you submit the application. If you turn 26 by the time winners are announced, we still look at when you submitted your application.

Dec. 15, 2009.

• • Dec. 15 application deadline.
  • January Knight reviews, accepts and declines applications.
  • Jan. 31 full proposal deadline.
  • Jan 20 to Feb. 25 we review/recommend and decline full proposals, narrowing them down to a group we call the Top 50 full proposals.
  • Feb. 25 we send the top 50 to the final review group.
  • Feb. 25 to March 31 the final reviewers / review and narrow down the top 50.
  • March 31 we have the final review session in Miami with all screeners and reviewers. We discuss the top 50 and select the recommended winners.
  • April 1 we start preparing the grant write-ups to present to the June Board.
  • In early June we present the recommended winners to the Board. Board approves or disapproves funding the recommended winners. If they approve they become the winners. We contact them to tell them the good news.
  • Sometime in mid-June 2010, we make the formal announcement.

  All the dates above are subject to changes based on the time it takes the review panel to evaluate all projects.

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When do I get my money and start the project?

Awards will be distributed in 2010. Knight Foundation will work out a schedule with each winner.

Summer 2010.

The application process is online. Entries by mail are not accepted. Please apply here, on this site.

Anywhere in the world, but it must affect a specific, defined, geographic community. A local community.

The community can be as small as a city block or as big as a state or province. If your idea is national in scope, it must work on a local level. (For example, MTV won two years ago with the idea of putting Knight Mobile Youth Journalists all over the country, but each one operated within his or her own state.) Even if it's intended to scale to a large area, it should work - and be tested - in a distinct, local community.

A region with undefined borders - such as the "Mississippi Delta area" or the "Southwest" - wouldn't meet our qualifications. However the "Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area" - a distinct area composed of specific counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin - would.

Here’s our thinking behind this:

Online communities don’t need our help. Virtual communities spring up every day. But using digital news and information to enhance physical communities — that’s something we think does need our help.

The reason we’re focusing on physical communities is that our democracy is organized by geography. We want to help improve the lives of people where they live, work and vote.

No. All that matters to us is the quality of the idea.

We're willing to hear a case for a geography larger than a state if there's still a specific geographic boundary in mind.

Everywhere. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen to enter.

The application must be in English, but the project doesn't have to be; the contest is open to applicants from anywhere in the world. However, the idea should be replicable in any language.

Because you have a big idea and you want to bring it to life.

Because you want to make your mark.

Because you want to do something that improves people’s lives.

Newspapers used to be the glue that held communities together. The news they printed helped people identify problems and work together to find solutions. TECHNOLOGY has changed everything.

Most of us use the Internet, cell phones and other gadgets to find out what we want to know. Although technology connects us with the world, it can leave us disconnected from those in our geographic community. We want to help people use technology to find out what they want to know and what they need to know to improve their lives.

We want to bring people together in the real world through technology.

Happily, the answer to both questions is no. In fact, applications this year are on track to reach record levels. We extended the Challenge because we think the contest will benefit from additional outreach to communities of entrepreneurs and software developers.

Behind the scenes, we make a ton of efforts to promote the Challenge to a wide variety of audiences. It's vital to us that the applicant pool reflect a diverse range of participants. That's why you'll find us talking not just to the Online News Association conference, but to college students in communities around the country (including HBCUs), to international and ethnic media organizations, to the technophiles who read Lifehacker and to folks who've never heard of Lifehacker.

There are two categories: an open category and a closed category. Open applications will be viewed and commented on by the public. Closed applications are only seen by Knight staff and the panel of reviewers and are kept confidential throughout the application process.

We’re looking for people with great ideas who don’t quite know how to make them happen, or people who have an exciting idea they want to test. You just have to use digital news and information in a new way to create a sense of community for people in a local community.

• State the essence of your idea within the first two or three sentences.
• Ask someone who is not familiar with your project to proof-read your application for clarity.
• Make sure your applications meets the basic requirements (digital, news/information, limited geographic area, timely, open source, community-building – see “What kind of projects will get funded?”

Knight Foundation will select an intermediary who is not a family member to manage the money for you.

Winners can come from the closed or open categories. It does not matter to the reviewers in which category you entered. What matters is the quality of the idea. The categories are intended to provide options for applicants.

We understand that at the early stage of the contest, your budget is your best guess. If you advance, you will have to get more specific, and we will work with you on developing a budget.

The projects that have the best chances are those that think of sustainability from the beginning. In the application phase it does not need to be long, a sentence will suffice. You will have a chance to talk more about it on the full proposal if you project moves forward.

There is no preference for projects of a certain budget size. The most important thing is that you submit a realistic budget and have the necessary information to back it up. Knight News Challenge grants have ranged from $10,000 to $5,000,000.

Take a look at our post on determining how much money to ask for. The short answer: Do your research. Examine the budgets of organizations or individuals that are doing projects similar to the one you want to develop.

There is no limit. Just make sure you submit separate ideas as separate entries; don't roll them all up into one.

You can attach only five supporting documents. Once uploaded you will not be able to delete or replace them.

The supporting materials or attachments should be any documents you think would add valuable information about your project. Information that would help the reviewers better understand how your idea meets the Knight News Challenge criteria. Past participants have provided documents that range from their logo, to recommendation letters to business plans.

No. All documents you attach to your application will be public. Applications are open and anybody who logs in can comment on them. (This does not apply to "Closed" category applicants, for whom the application process is kept private.)

File uploads must be one of the following:
.divx, .aiff, .mpg, .swf, .wav, .asf, .flv, .bmp, .gif, .m4a, .mov, .tif, .aac, .3gp, .qt, .xvid, .doc, .m1v, .jpeg, .mpeg, .wmv, .mp4, .mpv, .aif, .dv, .png, .jpg, .wma, .txt, .der, .avi, .3g2, .mp3

We face IRS restrictions in giving to the Miami Herald, the Akron Beacon Journal and the Detroit Free Press because these former Knight Ridder newspapers once gave contributions to the foundation. But employees of those papers may still apply for individual Knight News Challenge awards. There are, however, exceptions, including officers or directors of those newspapers or their parent companies. The best way to find out whether or not you are eligible is to apply. When employees apply, they must apply as individuals, and not propose to use any company resources, time or intellectual property rights.

The award money would be distributed to both of them. Each person would have equal claim on the money unless they agree between themselves, and tell us clearly, that they wish for a different distribution because of different contributions to the application.

Using existing technology in a new way is an excellent basis for an application.

Because individual situations vary, you need to consult a professional tax adviser on this issue.

If you are awarded a grant, Knight Foundation will work with you to help you succeed. We will bring our resources and experience to your aid, where feasible. Nonetheless, sometimes ideas still don’t work out. If that happens, the important thing is to learn from the experience. That’s why we call these projects “community news experiments." Experiments fail all the time, but at least if you are rigorously honest, you learn what didn’t work.

That could happen if you apply under the open category. It’s the trade-off of submitting your ideas to a category that is open to the public and having the opportunity to use the wisdom of the crowd to improve your entry.

It would be possible for someone to read your idea and submit a similar one. If the contest were to be only closed, we would avoid this situation. However, that would prevent you from getting ideas and feedback from others that might improve your application.

During Knight Foundation’s process of reviewing applications, we might be able to identify ideas that appear to be copies and to decline applications that appear to be copies but we cannot promise to do that.

Entering “openly” means you are either confident enough in your own abilities and track record that you’ll be chosen to do the work even if others have similar ideas, or that you don’t really care who does the work as long as it gets done.

Only if you are a co-applicant. Otherwise, if you comment on an entry, you are doing so freely and voluntarily with the knowledge that you are not creating any ownership rights for yourself. It is theoretically possible for a technology expert with a good entry to meet up through the comment process with a community expert and want to invite them to join in as a partner in a revised entry. But that’s up to the original applicant.

Yes. The applicant holds the intellectual property rights, subject to Knight Foundation’s requirement that the intellectual property be shared with the world. By entering the contest you agree to share those rights with the world in line with open-source, open-standard philosophy. Once you submit your idea, others will be able to comment on it. They will also be able to share it with their friends and rate it.

They are freely giving you their wisdom, and by doing that, they are agreeing to let you incorporate their ideas into your project. If you win, however, under the open-source rules you’ll have to share your software code and other know-how with everyone.

You would have to publish anything that you developed using grant funds. And it has to be something that is fully-featured and ready to be used by anybody who has a minimum tech capacity.

Everything developed using grant funds has to be open-source, but you can use proprietary software such as Twitter. News Challenge winner Newscloud, for example, uses Facebook. But using proprietary software can get tricky. Feel free to send specific questions on this point to newschallenge@knightfoundation.org.

Yes, if the company is uniquely positioned to test or develop a new technique or technology and is willing to share the results of that test with everyone. We see the challenge as a kind of flexible research and development fund, open to anyone.

We're no longer giving out News Challenge grants just for blogging, but it's OK to include blogging as part of a proposal. In fact, we expect grantees to blog about what they're doing and learning.

Yes, we definitely understand this concern. The flip side is that to give fair consideration to 3,000 applications and negotiating grant agreements with the winners just simply takes a certain amount of time. We are trying to shorten that time, but we totally sympathize with this concern.

Please apply!

If you did not receive a confirmation e-mail, please check your spam filter. It was sent from the address "newschallenge@knightfoundation.org"

In order to make edits, you only need to go back to the Apply page on your site while logged in, and choose your application from the "Submitted Applications" dropdown.

After you have made the edits to the submitted application, you will have to resubmit the application using the "Submit" option in the edit view.

You can paste over 750 characters, but anything after 750 will immediately be cut off. This count DOES include spaces and tabs.

Knight Foundation does not pay indirect administrative fees to grantee organizations. Exceptions may be made on recommendation of the KF program staff if it is determined that the grantee organization is providing a necessary service directly related to the grant. Based on the recommendation of program staff, on an individual-case basis, Knight Foundation would consider indirect fee payments of up to 10% of a proposed grant.

We probably could. And if you're confused about something, please don't hesitate to ask. But after you've decided your idea meets our criteria, the absolute best way to tell whether it's appropriate for the Challenge is to ... apply for the Challenge. We don't want to get so specific with our guidelines that we prevent you from submitting the next great idea. So if you think the idea fits, send it in.

Contact us.