The $5 Million Knight News Challenge Awards

The $5 Million Knight News Challenge Awards

The Knight News Challenge contest awards $5 million for innovative media ideas; however the October 15 application deadline is quicklyapproaching. The streamlined application takes less than 20 minutes.Anybody worldwide has a chance to win. Knight News Challenge AwardYou have to submit your letter of inquiry for a Knight News Challenge Award from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.You now need to decide

a) in which category to apply and

b) whether to make your application open or closed to the public.

1. Choose a category.

There are three:

1) General (open source, open standards),

2) Young Creators and

3) New Business Ventures.

In the General and Young Creators categories, your work product will need to be free and open source. You'll need to share the intellectual property you create with the world. If you have an idea of how to create cell phone documentaries, for example, you'll blog about it. If you make pilot 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 technology available to all of them. The third category, New Business Ventures, is the exception to the open-source rule: It's for any kind of proprietary news start-up that needs venture capital.

The Young Creators category (also open source, open standards) is for people 25-years-old and younger who have an idea that fits Knight News Challenge goals. Young people may enter in any category, but if you enter in the Young Creators category, your odds of winning could be better because you would be competing in a smaller pool of people for the $500,000 set aside for this award. This category is part of a worldwide effort to get young people more engaged in their communities through digital news and information. MTV joins the Knight Foundation in inviting young people everywhere to apply for this award.

From the Online News Association:

For more information and to apply,CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE KNIGHT NEWS CHALLENGE CONTEST WEBSITE