MGP2006: Democracy & Independence -- Sharing News & Politics in a Connected World

Bass invites collaborators for non-profit Online Journalism Project

MGP2006 alum Paul Bass, editor/founder of the New Haven Independent local news site, has won IRS approval for 501(c)3 designation for the Online Journalism Project. He writes that OJP publishes the Independent site, and "also advocates for the spread of professional-caliber online local journalism." He invites journalists in other communities to propose uses for the OJP as a fiscal agent for grant funding and other charitable donations to launch or support online local reporting. Contact Paul at editor@newhavenindependent.org . More info on OJP: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/about_OJP.php

Salinger, Flanders plan to profile local angle on presidential campaign issues

Sue Salinger, of Boulder, Colo., who attended the Memphis convening of the Media Giraffe Project's Journalism That Matters workshop, is gearing up to spend part of the next year profiling the way citizens take national political issues related to the presidential race and put them to work at the local level.  She says she's been working with Laura Flanders, the progressive radio talk show host. The idea is to produce audio/video profiles of local political activists. She's looking for local reporters who can identify local issues with national ramifications and the people who are living them day by day.  "We don't want to do coverage that is going to be a horserace," she says.  In same cases, says Salinger, they'll film a free-standing, short form video. In other cases, Flanders will original her radio talk show in a local town hall and cover the political issue that way.  Salinger can be reached at (720) 434-0470 or suecapsal@aol.com.  For the last several years Salinger has worked at Free Speech TV on the Source Code series. (Photo at right: Laura Flanders at National Conference on Media Reform, Memphis, Jan., 2007)

A new idea for newspaper ownership -- tap the reader co-op

Boston University journalism professor Chris Daly, an MGP2006 alum, has done some number crunching and is proposing that the nation's premier newspapers -- under seige from some investors -- essentially reform themselves as cooperatives -- with investment from member/readers.  Daly's idea -- the newspaper as co-op -- is one form of ownership that has not been tried, but is increasingly posed as something worth trying. Read his post.   On May 28, Roy Greenslade of The Guardian of London, picks upon and expands Daly's idea.

Media Giraffe affiliates fare well in Knight news challenge grants

Twelve Media Giraffe "prospects" or participants in MGP events were among 34 winners announced today in the "Knight Brothers 21st Century News Challenge," a multi-year effort by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to foster news innovation which improves geographic communities.

The third-largest award -- $885,000 -- went to VillageSoup.com, the Maine-based local online community whose founder, Richard Anderson, was among attendees at MGP2006 last June. Other MGP2006 participants winning grants were Adrian Holovaty, Lisa Williams, Paul Grabowicz, Jay Rosen and Benjamin Melancon.  Among "prospects" winning awards were the Gotham Gazette, Amy Gahran, Dori Maynard, J.D. Lasica and Ethan Zuckerman.  Some of the MGP2006-attendee winners are also in the "prospects" database. 

David Beers opens a dialog about the nature of Internet dialog

David Beers, the experienced magazine editor and MGP2006 alum who helped found The Tyee.ca in Vancouver, B.C., three years ago, is concerned about the decline in the quality of dialog on the Internet. He's summarized the issue with relevant links on The Tyee website and is hoping there are solutions lurking.

Here's the URL: http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/05/15/TalkOnline/

Contact: David Beers 604.688.7483 / dbeers@thetyee.ca