A project to help rural North Carolina newspapers digitize government information was among the winners in the latest round of grants from the Knight News Challenge, announced today by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The University of North Carolina received $275,000 to create OpenBlock Rural, which will "work with local governments and community newspapers in North Carolina to collect, aggregate and publish government data, including crime and real estate reports, restaurant inspections and school ratings," the foundation said in a news release. "Rural news organizations often struggle to move into the digital age because they lack the staff to make public data digestible. In addition, the project aims to improve small local papers’ technical expertise and provide a new way to generate revenue."
Justin Ellis of Nieman Journalism Lab has a detailed report on the project. For more from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill, click here. Here's a short video description of the project from its leader, Ryan Thornburg:
The University of North Carolina received $275,000 to create OpenBlock Rural, which will "work with local governments and community newspapers in North Carolina to collect, aggregate and publish government data, including crime and real estate reports, restaurant inspections and school ratings," the foundation said in a news release. "Rural news organizations often struggle to move into the digital age because they lack the staff to make public data digestible. In addition, the project aims to improve small local papers’ technical expertise and provide a new way to generate revenue."
Justin Ellis of Nieman Journalism Lab has a detailed report on the project. For more from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill, click here. Here's a short video description of the project from its leader, Ryan Thornburg:
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