Just stumbled upon the Knight News Challenge initiative. Their tag line got me interested, “You invent it, We fund it.”

More about the Knight News Challenge from their website:

Knight News Challenge

Getting the news and information we need to improve our communities is more important than ever. Send us your project. We seek innovations that use new or available technology to distribute content in local communities. Take part in the $5 million annual Knight News Challenge contest. Anybody worldwide can apply.
There are three rules to follow to apply to the 2010 Knight News Challenge:

• Use digital, open-source technology.
• Distribute news in the public interest.
• Test your project in a local community.

I also happened to browse through previous winners and was pleasantly surprised to read about EveryBlock founded by Adrian Holovaty. Adrian is the co-creator of the Django project.

Considering our synergies match with that of the Knight News Challenge – OpenCivic has sent an application for it. Please take out time to read, evaluate and comment on it here.

http://bit.ly/knc-opencivic

Look forward for your constructive participation.