[p2p-research] Knight Commission Invites Public Input on Community Information Needs

[Ryan Lanham]

Forwarded for the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of
Communities in a Democracy.

A project of the Aspen Institute and the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation

Knight Commission Invites Public Input on Community Information Needs


What information do Americans need to accomplish the personal goals and
to be effective citizens in our democracy?  How are they getting their
news and information?  And what would they do to improve the quality of
news and information available to them?

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a
Democracy (http://www.knightcomm.org) has been
conducting the first major study in the digital age to identify the
information needs of communities in a democracy, assess how and whether
those needs are being met, and recommend steps to improve the
fulfillment of those needs.

Now the Commission, in partnership with PBS Engage, is seeking public
input from citizens across the nation from Tuesday April 21 – Friday May
8, 2009 at http://www.pbs.org/publicinput. The
site offers an interactive experience and includes a preliminary draft
of the introduction to the Commission’s report, survey questions for the
public to answer, highlight videos from some of the public forums and
meetings held by the Commission, blogs about the Commission’s work, and
a forum for citizens to express their thoughts and opinions.

During the public input period, Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President
of Search Products & User Experience, and Co-Chair of the Commission,
will answer citizens’ questions about the Commission’s work via Google
Moderator, which enables participants to both submit and vote on
questions they think should be answered.

The Commission’s upcoming final report will include recommendations for
achieving the news and information environment that democratic
communities need in order to thrive.  The Commission launched in June
2008 with an aggressive agenda to assess the information needs of
citizens from a variety of different types of communities in order to
make concrete recommendations to public policy makers about improving
local information flow. The free flow of news and information in
communities is essential to effective democracy. With the digital age
transforming media worldwide, reducing traditional journalism in a
number of communities, the Commission is focused on how Americans will
get the news and information they need to make informed decisions for
themselves and for their communities.

Over the past year the Commission held seven public forums and meetings
in communities across the nation and heard from more than 100 speakers,
including community organizers, educators, journalists from old and new
media, labor leaders, technology engineers and strategists,
entrepreneurs, futurists, public officials, policy analysts, economic
consultants and community foundation representatives.  The Commission
has also received significant input from an informal advisory network of
journalists, academics, and people involved in policy and community work.

The Knight Commission, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, operates out of the Aspen Institute Communications and
Society Program in Washington, D.C.  It includes seventeen respected
representatives of journalism, communities and public policy with
diverse perspectives, including Co-Chairs Mayer and Theodore B. Olson,
Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and former U.S. Solicitor General,
and ex-officio members Alberto Ibargüen and Walter Isaacson, presidents
respectively of Knight Foundation and the Aspen Institute.  The
Commission’s executive director is Peter Shane, a law professor at The
Ohio State University, who is advised by a committee of journalists,
policymakers and academic experts from a variety of fields.  For more
information on the Knight Commission, visit
http://www.knightcomm.org

Peter M. Shane
Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law and
Director, Project on Law and Democratic Development
The Ohio State University
Moritz College of Law
55 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210

Executive Director, Knight Commission on the Information Needs of
Communities in a Democracy
www.knightcomm.org

Phone:  614-688-3014
FAX:  614-688-8422
URL:  http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/pshane
E-Mail:  shane.29 at osu.edu or pshane at andrew.cmu.edu
Ryan Lanham
rlanham1963 at gmail.com
Facebook: Ryan_Lanham
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