Community Information Needs

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has established a Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy.

A well-informed citizenry is critical to democracy. News, journalism and other information conduits play a central role in informing society. Yet, at a time when the problems facing American communities are arguably unprecedented in number, scope and complexity, the nation’s news and information systems, both commercial and not-for-profit, are in the midst of a technological revolution that is dramatically changing flows of news and information.

The digital revolution is driving this new look at the role of news and information in our society. As the Hutchins Commission did in the 1940s, and the Kerner and Carnegie Commissions did in the 1960s, this Knight Commission will formulate a national agenda calculated to improve the flow of news and information in the nation’s communities. The Commission’s research-based work will focus on three large questions:

What are the information needs of communities in our American democracy?
What are the current trends affecting how community information needs are met?
What changes will ensure that community information needs will be better met in the
future?

The commission will be holding three community meetings:
Mountain View, CA: September 8
Philadelphia, PA: September 27
Missoula, MT: October 25

If you are in town on the 27th it might be worthwhile to attend and speak your mind.