The ongoing coverage of the developing oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was bound to stir new-media investigations like the one the Center for Public Integrity, a Knight Foundation grantee, is carrying out. The Center, a nonprofit dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern, is using newly developed Web-based tools to deliver and share material with readers.

For example, the Center created an online library using a platform developed by another Knight grantee, DocumentCloud, to make available government documents its reporters are uncovering as part of their investigation into the oil spill. The Center, partnering with ABC News, posted exclusively obtained reports by the U.S. Coast Guard about past oil spill training exercises, which revealed weaknesses in the federal and industry response plan years before the BP disaster in the Gulf.

The Center credited DocumentCloud, which won a Knight News Challenge grant in 2009, in its use of the online tool: 'It's an emerging platform that we're pleased to use, giving our readers more depth, context, and resources as part of the Center for Public Integrity's brand of investigative journalism.'

DocumentCloud is an index of primary source documents and a tool for annotating, organizing and publishing them on the Web. Documents are contributed by journalists, researchers and archivists.

Currently in its fourth year, Knight News Challenge is open to community-minded innovators worldwide. Projects must use digital, open-source technology, distribute news in the public interest and be tested in a local community. Winners for 2010 will be announced in June.

Yesterday I attended the most recent of a lunch series organized by the Public Policy Communicators of NYC (PPC-NYC). The luncheon was focused on 'Navigating the Shifting Media Landscape' and its aim was to discuss several major recent developments that are contributing to the fractured media landscape and how media policy affects these issues. The group of approximately 30 or so experts discussed several topics including the importance of preserving network neutrality, how major media corporations are attempting to dominate public discourse, and how to best focus the efforts of all our organizations in light of current and future media policy.

The discussion started off with Knight Foundation consultant Vince Stehle highlighting some of the key elements from the Knight Commission report 'Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age.' He talked briefly about the specific recommendations to maximize the availability of relevant and credible information to all Americans and their communities, the importance of strengthening the capacity of individuals to engage with information, and the necessity to promote individual engagement with information and the public life of the community.

Because PPC-NYC's members consist primarily of foundation communication professionals and leaders from progressive non-profit organizations, there is an inherent understanding about the importance of having free and open information in a society. And as Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibarügen remarked earlier this week to a group at the 2010 Free Press Summit in Washington DC, "Information is at the heart of democracy."

Because of that inherent understanding, it was hardly surprising that the recommendations of the Knight Commission seemed to strongly resonate with the goals and efforts of this group. In fact, the group proved to be natural audience for this kind of thinking. Furthermore, there was also understanding and appreciation that without sound media policies that speak to the need for a clear and open flow of information, the basic tenets of not just the Internet are at risk, but so are the tenets of a democracy.

What I found most encouraging is that there seemed to be an agreement that no matter what area foundations and non-profit organizations are engaged in, whether it is health, environment, or other social justice issues, that the importance of sound media policy resonates with everyone. Without access to a free and open Internet, there are invariable restrictions on the capacity of individuals to engage with information. Without an open Internet, the ability to promote individual engagement with information becomes limited, threatening the work that is the heart of all of what we do. The need for an open Internet and access to technology is an issue that people can engage with, coalesce around and begin to integrate it into their everyday thinking and work. The importance of having information and strengthening the capacity of people to engage with information cuts across sectors.

We know the challenges we face, the digital divide, a lack of media literacy in certain communities, and an uphill battle against corporate interests. But more importantly we know what is as stake. Together we can figure out how to best implement the recommendations of the Knight Commission. It is up to each of us to do what we can in our own ways to make these tenets a reality.

-- Elizabeth Miller is a Senior Program Associate with The Overbrook Foundation.

Stanford University has announced the newest group of John S. Knight Journalism Fellows and only the second class chosen under the program's new emphasis on journalism innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership.

Knight Foundation spoke with Program Director Jim Bettinger about how the changes to the program, announced in 2008, have impacted the fellows and their work.

The 2010-11 John S. Knight fellows will study a range of topics facing the future of news, civic engagement, developing new multimedia storytelling approaches, as well as creating tools to broaden information about immigrant populations and promote freedom of speech. The twenty journalists in this year's program will include, for the first time, professionals from Cuba and Armenia.

You can find a complete list of the 2010-11 fellows and more about the Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists at knight.stanford.edu.

Stanford's Knight Fellowship program is funded by the'Knight Foundation.

--Marly Falcon, Knight Foundation contributing blogger