Fabrice Florin, (SEE MGP PROFILE) an MGP alum and founder of Newstrust, nas been elected an shoka Fellow for his work as a social entrepreneur to promote quality journalism online. The Ashoka Fellowship includes a three-year stipend for Florin's efforts to create "lasting, visible, systemic change in the way society sees journalism." Fabrice will become a lifelong member of the Ashoka community, which includes over 2,000 social entrepreneurs worldwide, working in economic development, education, human rights and other fields.
Florin calls the fellowship a key milestone for NewsTrust (newstrust.net). Not only will it provide much-needed financial support, but he calls it an important validation of our social news network's potential for social change -- as a compelling example of how news consumers and journalists can join forces online to find quality news coverage.
"I've always believed that good information is as important to society as clean water is to the environment," Fabrice said. "In our increasingly polluted media landscape, I see a real and growing need for quality information -- and news literacy tools to tell good journalism apart from misinformation. I want to bring these public services to millions of people, so we can filter news and information collectively, based on shared values that make us better informed as citizens. "
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, created the journalism fellowship program in February, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, with the goal of identifying "outstanding individuals with ideas that will have far-reaching impact on the field and practice of journalism, using Knight Foundation's definition of good journalism -- the fair, accurate contextual search for truth."
"This is quite an honor, coming from the folks who coined the word 'social entrepreneur,'" Fabrice said. "This gives me a special responsibility to bring this service to a broader community."
In related news, NewsTrust just launched a new version of its website. (READ BLOG)
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Kate
http://educationonline-101.com
Posted by: Kate | December 09, 2008 at 06:59 AM