Knight Foundation

NOWCast, a citizen journalism project, needs a good looking website with a powerful and flexible CMS.
The project is co-funded by the Knight Foundation and the Alamo Area Community Information System, under the auspices of the San Antonio area Foundation.
I've described some of the attributes we're looking for here: http://nowcastsa.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/choosing-digital-printing-press/
We would love to hear proposals immediately from developers who are enthusiastic about exploring new ways to build community and journalism.
Our launch target is Sept. 9.
Our budget is small.

As we near the completion of year-1 of the Open Media Project, I thought it might be useful to provide a brief history so-far. Part of my agreement in winning the Knight News Challenge grant that made the Open Media Project possible was to post frequent updates to the PBS Idealab Blog. Looking back, those entries provide a good timeline of year-1, and a look forward at year 2.

You can see all 10 entries at http://www.pbs.org/idealab/tony_shawcross_1/

Quick post to let Indymedia folks know that the Knight Drupal Initiative, hosted as another group here on g.d.o, is taking applications. I don't think this has been crossposted yet. I personally would be interesting in working with people on Indymedia-benefiting proposals.

^{benjamin, Agaric Design Collective}

Deproduction, a nonprofit web design, technology development and consulting organization based in Denver, Colorado has two full-time openings for experienced PHP / Drupal developers to help develop a set of tools that will revolutionize community media.

This page is a resource for members of the Drupal community. If you would like to promote the Knight Drupal Initiative, you can use the following materials.

For more information about the KDI, see the program goals and the FAQ. To submit a proposal, please review the application tips and the application process.

Program summary

A one sentence summary of the KDI.

* The Knight Drupal Initiative is an annual grant program for Drupal and is designed to help people improve their communities by providing a robust, freely distributed, open source digital publishing platform.

Elevator pitch

For use when you have thirty seconds to explain the KDI.

* The Knight Drupal Initiative is an annual, open grant funding process for the Drupal open source project. We want to enable more people to enter the digital conversation by lowering the technical barriers to entry. We will provide powerful tools for digital publication, free and open to all. Our goal is to encourage people to improve their communities by supporting the free exchange of information and ideas.

[Updated with a cross-post to the marketing group.]

The Knight Drupal Initiative is an open grant process for Drupal projects. See http://groups.drupal.org/node/10459 for more information about the KDI.

Here's a current list of tasks that we need people to take on:

• Write some grant application tips for Proofread http://groups.drupal.org/node/10462 for clarity.

• Design a logo for the Knight Drupal Initiative! Done, considering no alternatives were submitted.

• Create some marketing materials that explain the program. These should include:

The following are frequently asked questions about the Knight Drupal Initiative. Note that some answers have changed after the 2008 program.

If you have additional questions, please post them in the comments.

Knight Drupal Initiative program questions

• When does the KDI start to accept proposals?

Applications for 2008 are now closed. The program will reopen in 2009. See http://groups.drupal.org/node/16348 for details.

• When is the final date to admit new proposals?

General guidelines

Creating a new proposal for the Knight Drupal Initiative is the first step in a larger grant process. Proposals that are supported by the Drupal community will be sent to Knight Foundation for formal review prior to funding. Applications sent to Knight Foundation may require additional information.

The Knight Drupal Initiative is an annual, open, public grant application and review process. Successful applications will be passed from the Drupal community to Knight Foundation for full review and possible funding.

Anyone may apply. Applications for 2008 are now closed. The program will reopen in 2009. See http://groups.drupal.org/node/16348 for details.

You should review the KDI project goals and KDI Application Tips before you submit a proposal.

Community review