I asked DocumentCloud’s Amanda Hickman to respond to the question: “How can we reinvent online news discussions?” “We do a good job getting people to comment on things like the royal wedding. But we all have insights on things like how our city works or where our food comes from,” she said. “News could be doing more to get audiences weighing in on real policy issues like these.” I asked Amanda to say more:
Amanda also talked about the kind of people she hopes to see getting the MoJo fellowships. “If you’re talking back to the evening news, apply to the challenge.” Which gets at a key point: the MoJo challenge really is about shaping the future of news. There is a chance to develop a web app or online tool that puts ‘the people formerly known as the audience’ in the drivers’ seat.
If you’re passionate web designer or developer you should enter the MoJo challenge. The current challenge asks: “How can we reinvent online news discussions?” All you have to do to get started is submit your idea.
—
This is part of series of interviews with people involved in the Knight Mozilla News Innovation Partnership (MoJo). Find out more on the MoJo web site or enter the MoJo news innovation challenge.
I try not to be a suckup, so when people ask what’s blowing my mind, I don’t tend to point out the work that my bosses are doing, but the truth is that I’m consistently impressed with the data that ProPublica has been publishing. The NY Times grid of reactions to news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed — that is fantastic.
Andy Carvin, crowdsourcing a mysterious munition dropped in Libya, is absolutely fascinating. At 20 past 4 in the afternoon, he asked his network what was in the picture. Within an hour, he had the answer along with a flury of guesses and wrong answers. We’re chipping at the edges of something there–I don’t think he’s solved crowdsourcing, I think he’s experimenting with a new way to report and learning a lot as he goes.
I’m certainly looking forward to watching #hacktyler unfold.
Check out Radical Reference. Reference librarians who’ll take a few minutes to look something up for you or point you towards a reliable source.
We’re still just scratching the surface here, though.