I asked Knight Foundation web lead Eric Schoenborn about what’s broken with comments, news and the web. He said: “We need to get online discussion past the low common denominator trolls. We need a way to get people who actually care about democracy engaging online.” The second MoJo innovation challenge is all about this: asking developers and designers to re-imagine online discourse around the news. Eric said more:

I also asked Eric why a web developer or designer would want to enter the MoJo challenge. “These fellowships offer a chance to work at a really high level,” he said. “You can have a huge impact on your community and humanity in general.” It’s true that our news partners — Al Jazeera English, BBC, the Boston Globe, the Guardian, Zeit Online — can provide huge stage for fellows. There is chance to do something truly world changing.

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.

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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.