J-Lab: Meet the New Media Makers

This learning module is filled with original reporting that will help you learn about the innovative community news initiatives that are cropping up around the United States - and securing grants from foundations that have not traditionally supported journalism.

In the case studies and accompanying videos, you’ll meet citizen journalists who have launched news sites in Boston; Deerfield, N.H.; New Haven, Conn.; and Chappaqua, N.Y. And you’ll learn how professional journalists have launched news initiatives that either partner with or supplement their metro news outlets.

A key part of this toolkit is a searchable database, where you can see the kinds of news ventures that foundations have supported since 2005. You can also add your own grant information.

Read the press release about the toolkit.

Inside the toolkit:

• Watch the videos  
• OVERVIEW  
• CHAPTER 1: Finding the Funding Fit
      • Deciding What to Fund
      • Tips for Funding Community News Projects
    CASE STUDIES
      • Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
      • NewHavenIndependent.org  
• CHAPTER 2: News with Civic Impact
    CASE STUDIES
      • VoiceofSanDiego.org
      • NewCastleNOW.org  
• CHAPTER 3: Measuring Success
    CASE STUDY
      • PlanPhilly.com  
• Acknowledgments

You can also download the toolkit text as a PDF (1.2 MB).

We invite you to comment throughout the module. Look for the comment box in the right column.

Continue to the  OVERVIEW AT J-LAB.ORG

Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy is a group of 17 media, policy and community leaders. Its purpose is to assess the information needs of communities, and recommend measures to help Americans better meet those needs.

The Knight Commission sees new thinking about news and information as a necessary step to sustaining democracy in the digital age. It thus follows in the footsteps of the 1940s Hutchins Commission and the Kerner and Carnegie Commissions of the 1960s.

But in the digital age the stakes are even higher. Technological, economic and behavioral changes are dramatically altering how Americans communicate. Communications systems no longer run along the lines of local communities, and the gap in access to digital tools and skills is wide and troubling.

The Commission seeks to start a national discussion – leading to real action. Its aims are to maximize the availability and flow of credible local information; to enhance access and capacity to use the new tools of knowledge and exchange; and to encourage people to engage with information and each other within their geographic communities.

Informing Communites: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age

Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive

News, Improved

“NEWS, IMPROVED” is for journalists who intend to thrive in the 21st Century.

It is an exploration of the new world right in front of us, a manual for those ready to stop pining for the past and start growing with the future. The message: Any journalist can learn to join the booming digital world of targeted, convenient, interactive media.

The digital revolution has, plain and simple, upended journalism. The speed at which information moves -- and the new ways people consume it – is transforming what journalists need to know and do.

News, Improved reports on how news organizations are learning to change by setting clear editorial goals and priorities, developing training at all levels to achieve those goals, and using professional growth as a way to strengthen readership.

Book Excerpts

• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Closing the Leadership Gap
• Chapter 2. Goals: Knowing Just Where You’re Going
• Chapter 3. Newsroom culture: No more whining
• Chapter 4. The Well-Balanced Learning Diet
• Chapter 5. Frontline editors: Guardians of the culture
• Chapter 6. Learning to Change: The Business Imperative
• Chapter 7. The Future

Note: Link below is press release on the book. Printed book is for sale on the www.newsimproved.org web site.

All Eyes Forward: How to help your newsroom get where it wants to go faster

Cultural change initiatives conducted by several major newspapers are chronicled in All Eyes Forward: How to Help your Newsroom get where it wants to go Faster, a publication from The Learning Newsroom at the American Press Institute. The book describes how to develop a “learning newsroom” that has a constructive culture, and includes a discussion of the results of the studies by Robert A. Cooke, Ph.D.

Moving Forward

This report documents Biloxi’s potential to become a major American destination for people seeking a mix of tourist and entertainment activities. 

News in a New America

The Future of the First Amendment Survey: 2006 Update

This publication reports on a two-year, $1 million survey of high school students and their knowledge of the First Amendment. See the project web site: www.firstamendmentfuture.org

Keeping Secrets

The Haitian Community in Miami-Dade: A Growing the Middle Class Supplement

Although Haitians have been coming to Miami-Dade in large numbers for only a little over two decades, they have quickly become an integral part of the region. But there are important differences between the Haitian experience and other immigrant experiences in South Florida. As researcher Philip Kretsedemas explains, “Unlike many Hispanic immigrants, who benefited from the enclave economy and political networks established by earlier cohorts of middle-class refugees—Haitian immigrants entered South Florida as unwanted immigrants, black minorities, and members of an ethnolinguistic group that was isolated from
both the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking community.”1 Haitians are also from one of the poorest nations in the world. And in a region with some of the highest poverty rates in the country, Haitians are among the poorest groups in Miami-Dade: Haitians are more likely to work low-wage jobs, earn less money, and pay larger shares of their incomes on basic necessities.

This report is a supplement to a June 2004 publication entitled, Growing the Middle Class: Connecting All Miami-Dade Residents to Economic Opportunity. The intent of this report is to provide specific information about the Haitian community in Miami-Dade County in order to better describe the challenges they face. After describing Haitian income trends, the report explores some of the reasons behind the low incomes and higher poverty rates of Miami’s Haitian population.

The Haitian community in Miami-Dade has gained a lot of ground since the late 1970s—there are now Haitian and Haitian American politicians, organizations, businesses, and middle-class neighborhoods. But the numbers also show that there is still much work to be done to ensure that all groups in the region, including Haitians, have access to economic opportunity.

A NOTE ON THE DATA

It is often difficult to get a truly accurate count of groups such as the Haitian American community. A range of issues—from distrust of federal agencies to inadequate funding for outreach to immigrant communities— contribute to a likely undercount of Haitians in the U.S. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau says there are 96,000 Haitians in Miami-Dade, but community leaders feel this number underestimates the true count.2 While recognizing that the Census Bureau number may not capture all the Haitians in the county, this report relies on the census numbers because of the unparalleled level of detail and information they provide.

Undercount or no, the statistics still reveal important trends facing the Haitian community in Miami-Dade.

And no other data source provides such detailed characteristics of population, housing, and employment at very small levels of geography. Such data come as close to comprehensiveness as any that exist.

The information about the Haitian community is captured in the “ancestry” section of the Census found in Summary Files 3 and 4. Individuals in households who received the long form of the census were asked, “What is this person’s ancestry or ethnic origin?” This report includes any individual who listed “Haitian” as their sole ancestry, or as one of a number of ancestries. In other words, the numbers in this report represent those that listed themselves as either Haitian or part Haitian. Most of the numbers in the report are from Census 2000, Summary File 4.

The tables provided by the census in Summary File 4 are the only source of detailed information
on groups below the major race categories (black, white, Hispanic, Asian, etc.). However, in a few years the U.S. Census Bureau will complete its implementation of the American Community Survey (ACS), a new research product that will eventually replace the long form of the decennial census.

Once implemented, the ACS will provide yearly data which will enable users to track the information provided here on a more regular basis. Until then, Census 2000 is the best source of detailed information about the Haitian community.

Broadcast in a Box

In 2005, RTNDF’s High School Project put together a teacher’s toolbox called “Broadcast in a Box.” It consisted of three books, three discs and the RTNDA Code of Ethics. 

Response to the printed Broadcast in a Box was overwhelming, and we ran out of copies. Now we have most of Broadcast in a Box on the web. The best practices, updated Plugged-In, First Amendment lessons, Generation Next and student videos are here. Not here are the ethics video case studies, which were not available for online distribution.

Thanks to our partners including the Illinois Press Association Foundation and Copley First Amendment Center,  The Washington Post’s Young Journalists Development Program, Al Tomkins of the Poynter Institute and the many teachers, classes and journalists who provided material.

Introduction by Dale Russel, WAGA-TV

Great Ideas for Your Classroom Booklet

Plugged-In

Intro
Chapter 1: Basics of Online Journalism
Chapter 2: Navigating the Internet
Chapter 3: Critical Thinking
Chapter 4: Legal Rights
Chapter 5: Protecting Your Privacy and Security Online
Chapter 6: Putting Your Content Online
Chapter 7: A Few Final Thoughts
Appendix A: Additional Resources
Appendix B: Journalism Organizations
Appendix C: RTNDA's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
Appendix D: References

First Amendment Curriculum

Intro
Educational curriculum 
Teacher’s guide 
Pre & post test 
License agreement 
Newspaper license

Challenging the Myth

Frank examines the assumption, offered by some college officials, that winning teams will attract more applicants and, in turn, better students for two reasons: (1) many students are sports fans, and (2) “a big-time athletic program serves much like a national advertising campaign,” because the names of institutions with successful big-time athletic programs appear frequently in the news media. College officials often cite the 12-percent increase in applications that Boston College experienced after Doug Flutie’s miracle pass to win the 1984 Orange Bowl as proof of this phenomenon.

Read more of the Frank Report online.

Growing the Miami's Middle Class: Connecting All Miami-Dade Residents to Economic Opportunity

Greater Miami—with its famed beaches, weather, and culture—attracts over 10 million overnight visitors annually. The setting for numerous movies and TV shows, the region is a magnet for the rich and famous, and conventioneers and vacationers follow.

AND IT’S NOT JUST TOURISM THAT PUTS MIAMI ON THE MAP. Miami is the financial gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean and home to numerous headquarters for operations there.

But Miami has another identity. Beyond the spotlights, the fun in the sun, and the world of international business lie some sobering statistics about what the plurality of people in Miami-Dade County and Miami City experience. When the Miami New Times ran the headline, “We’re Number One,” they were caustically referring to the city of Miami’s ranking as the poorest among the country’s 100 largest cities.

Miami’s split personality—its wide gap between rich and poor—points to an underlying problem. The region, and in particular the city, has a small middle class. Miami-Dade is failing to retain residents, including immigrants, who have successfully moved up the income ladder, and build its middle class from within. Addressing this failure may be the single most critical intervention the region can take to improve its future.

This report defines this challenge by examining the underlying trends, explains some of the reasons behind them, and suggests policies that help grow the middle class.

Miami-Dade’s income statistics are troubling

Miami-Dade’s incomes are low and poverty is high Income and poverty levels reflect the ability of residents to provide for themselves and their families, their capacity to support neighborhood businesses, and their prospects for building assets for the future. In this regard, Miami-Dade faces a number of challenges. Miami-Dade County’s median household income is $35,966, far below the national median income of $41,994. The city of Miami’s median household income is even lower
at $23,483. The same pattern holds true for poverty rates: The nation’s poverty rate is 12 percent; Miami-Dade County’s is 18 percent, and the city of Miami’s is 29 percent.

Miami’s middle class is small

The city of Miami has few middleincome households. While 20 percent of the nation’s households make between $34,000 and $51,000, only 15 percent of Miami’s households are in that income bracket. What’s more, its middle class is shrinking, with a smaller share of the city’s households making a middle-class income today than 20 years ago.

Blacks and Hispanics are less likely to be middle class than whites

There are wide disparities between race and ethnic groups. In Miami-Dade County, the white median household income is at least $20,000 more than the black, Puerto Rican, Nicaraguan, and Haitian median household income.

Several factors contribute to Miami’s small middle class Miami faces several challenges that contribute
to the region’s troubling income trends and inhibit its ability to retain and build the middle class.

The level of educational attainment in the region is low

In Miami and elsewhere, education shortfalls directly affect the pocketbooks of individual households. The estimated lifetime earnings of an individual with a  high school degree are almost $1 million less than an individual with a college degree. Miami-Dade County has a very low educational attainment rate. Only 22 percent of the county’s adult population has at least a bachelor’s degree. And only 16 percent of the city of Miami’s adult population has at least a bachelor’s.

The regional economy is a low-wage economy

Most jobs in Miami-Dade are in industry sectors, such as service and retail, paying lower wages. Average annual pay in the retail sector is $21,295, while in the manufacturing sector it’s $31,083. Additionally, wages, regardless of industry sector or occupation type, are lower in Miami-Dade than elsewhere.

Miami-Dade is exporting middle-class residents

Miami-Dade experienced an overall outmigration of residents in the 1990s.

Almost 160,000 more people left Miami-Dade than moved in from other parts of the country. About 90,000 of the people who left Miami-Dade between 1995 and 2000 moved to neighboring Broward County. While the group of Dade-to-Broward movers was racially diverse, they were primarily middle class. Sixty-two percent of the movers made more than the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area median family
income. Twenty-eight percent of the movers had at least a bachelor’s degree.
Miami-Dade’s loss was Broward’s gain.

Low-income residents face additional challenges that hinder their ability to join the middle class

Miami’s decentralized growth patterns isolate low-income residents from opportunity

Miami is one of the most sprawling regions in the country. The dispersed pattern of urban growth is reflected in everything: population growth, housing construction, office space location, commuting patterns, and developed land.

The Miami region’s heavy decentralization of population and jobs is widening the distance that separates economic opportunity from low-income minority residents.

Basic necessities consume a large portion of poor residents’ income

While almost all households have to pay for expenses such as food, lodging, child care, and transportation, poor households spend a larger share of their income on these basics, leaving little left over for building assets. For example, while the overall population spends 3.9  percent of their income on commuting, the poorest commuters spend 9.5 percent.

Limited use of mainstream financial institutions and government support programs impedes the wealth-building capacity of low-income households

There are a number of government income-support programs in place to help alleviate the situation for low-income residents. But participation rates in these programs can be low, and the costs of accessing these benefits can be high, limiting the programs’ effectiveness.

Likewise, the limited access to financial institutions hinders the ability of low-income residents to build assets and enter the middle class.

Miami can build a different future by investing in growing the middle class

A key problem for Miami is its failure to adequately retain and build its middle class. Given these trends, what policy direction makes sense for Miami-Dade? Any policy interventions that Miami-Dade undertakes should be part of a broad effort, including public school reform, economic development initiatives geared toward building a high-wage economy, and strategies that help attract more middle-class people into the region.

Within that context, the region should focus on five policy interventions that help grow the middle class:

• Develop an educated, skilled workforce
• Improve access to quality jobs
• Make work pay
• Help families build assets
• Build quality neighborhoods

Miami-Dade is a vibrant place—a large urban market, an international gateway, a tourist destination, and an engine for entrepreneurial activity. In part because of the large number of immigrants
who move through the area, Miami-Dade is an important incubator of new cohorts of middle class residents.

But these newly minted members of the middle class do not stay.

By formulating strategies to grow and retain the middle class Miami-Dade will not only be better able to connect all its residents to economic prosperity, but it will realize a new level of regional  competitiveness.

The Media Missionaries

The American Journalist in the 21st Century Key Findings

Reaching Generation Next

In 1997, high school journalism in the Washington, D.C., was dead. Not single public high school in the city published a newspaper that year. When The Washington Post discovered this crisis, they embarked on a program to reintroduce journalism and newspapers to the city's high schools. What came to be called the Young Journalists Development Program was born.

By 2003, the program operated 21 high school journalism programs and reached beyond the city into its diverse suburbs.

Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the leader of the project, wanted to extend this sucess to other cities, so she pursued and put together "Reaching Generation Next: A News Media Guide to Creating Successful High School Partnerships" with the help of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Written by Lisa Frazier Page, the book is a how-to for editors, newspaper advisers and principals to come together to create good scholastic journalists.

To browse this publication at its online home visit http://www.highschooljournalism.org/Editors/Editors.cfm?id=74

Diversity Best Practices

Diversity: Best Practices is divided into four main sections, covering best practices in curriculum development, faculty recruitment and retention, student recruitment and retention, and campus environment. It also covers the history of ACEJMC's standard on diversity. A "Sources and Resources" section contains syllabus excerpts and lists of texts, videotapes and websites that contributors recommended.

Newsroom Training: Where's the Investment?

ASNE High School Journalism Online Hosting

Web pages for publishing your high school newspaper are available from ASNE with support from Knight Foundation. About 150 newspapers are taking advantage of this set of tools.

Students also find tips and resources from media professionals for reporting, graphics and more.

Visit www.highschooljournalism.org to order the CD-ROM kit.

A Call to Action: Reconnecting College Sports and Higher Education

In 1989, as a decade of highly visible scandals in college sports drew to a close, the trustees of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation were concerned that athletics abuses threatened the very integrity of higher education. In October of that year, they created a Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and directed it to propose a reform agenda for college sports.

In announcing this action, James L. Knight, then chairman of the Foundation, emphasized that it did not reflect any hostility toward college athletics. "We have a lot of sports fans on our board, and we recognize that intercollegiate athletics have a legitimate and proper role to play in college and university life," he said. "Our interest is not to abolish that role but to preserve it by putting it back in perspective. We hope this Commission can strengthen the hands of those who want to curb the abuses which are shaking public confidence in the integrity of not just big-time collegiate athletics but the whole institution of higher education."

Keeping the Faith with the Student Athlete

In light of recent events in intercollegiate athletics, it seems particularly timely to offer this Internet version of the combined reports of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Together with an Introduction, the combined reports detail the work and recommendations of a blue-ribbon panel convened in 1989 to recommend reforms in the governance of intercollegiate athletics.

Three reports, published in 1991, 1992 and 1993, were bound in a print volume summarizing the recommendations as of September 1993. The reports were titled Keeping Faith with the Student-Athlete, A Solid Start and A New Beginning for a New Century.

Knight Foundation dissolved the Commission in 1996, but not before the National Collegiate Athletic Association drastically overhauled its governance based on a structure “lifted chapter and verse,” according to a New York Times editorial, from the Commission's recommendations. [The Knight Commission was later re-launched and has convened since 2001.