Benevolent, a crowdfunding site that helps economically needy individuals buy one-time items, is expanding beyond a Chicago beta into several additional markets including Detroit and Silicon Valley.
Can Silicon Valley Beat Poverty With Crowdfunding?
Knight Foundation
Mediabistro Webcast
Vine has added sound and motion to the popular microblogging website, Twitter. Learn how to bring your information to life in our Vine webcast on Wednesday, June 19 from 4-5 pm ET. In this one-hour webcast, Gemma Craven (left), EVP, New York group director at Social@Ogilvy will discuss best practices for using the visual social platform and share some of her team's successful vine videos. Register here.
"Vine: Create Quick Social Videos To Market Your Brand" Webcast
Vine has added sound and motion to the popular microblogging website, Twitter. Learn how to bring your information to life in our Vine webcast on Wednesday, June 19 from 4-5 pm ET. In this one-hour webcast, Gemma Craven (left), EVP, New York group director at Social@Ogilvy will discuss best practices for using the visual social platform and share some of her team's successful vine videos. Register here. App Helps Weed Out Hoax Photos and Videos
Nonprofit developers have released a prototype app that helps users determine whether photos and videos are real or the work of hoaxsters.
Panelists Say Social Apps Can Lead to Rape | Microsoft Unveils Tablets | Group to Facebook: Don’t Target Ads to Kids
Click here to receive the Morning Social Media Newsfeed via email.
Microsoft Breaks Tradition With Surface Tablets (CNET)
Microsoft — a company that traditionally has relied exclusively on its PC partners to provide hardware powered by its Windows operating system — is trying out a new business model with its Windows 8 release. The company is going to offer two Microsoft-branded tablets of its own, both of which are branded as Microsoft Surface. Mashable Super-thin, the tablet is just 9.3mm thin for the Windows RT version and 13.5mm for the Pro version. Both have two full-size USB ports — something you won’t find on the vast majority of the tablet competition. You’ll also find a micro SD port on the side of the RT version and a microSDXC port on the Pro version for adding data to the device or reading files (like pictures from your digital camera) on the fly. Bloomberg News The tablet has a 10.6-inch display, said CEO Steve Ballmer during Monday’s announcement, and the device’s cover serves as a track pad and a full keyboard. Business Insider Surface for Windows RT will be available to the public when Windows 8 is officially released. Microsoft still hasn’t given an exact date for that, but we do know it will be in the fall, in plenty of time for holiday shopping. The Windows 8 Pro model will be available about 90 days later, Microsoft said. The Guardian Analysts gave the as-yet unpriced devices a cautious welcome. “From a design perspective, it looks great,” said Carolina Milanesi, a research vice president for the consumer devices team at Gartner, an information technology research and advisory company based in Stamford, Conn. She said the device looked like a serious competitor to Apple’s iPad, but success would depend on price and the apps available for the devices. Read more
These 6 Knight Foundation News Challenge Winners Make Journalism More Social
Every year, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awards funding and mentoring to a handful of innovative new ventures that promote good journalism in the Digital Age. The six winners of this year’s “Networks” challenge, announced today at the MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference in Cambridge, MA, use existing social platforms like Twitter and Ustream to keep communities informed in new ways.
Texas Tribune, Bay Citizen to Develop Open-Source Publishing Platform with $975K Grant from Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced a $975,000 grant to be used by The Texas Tribune and The Bay Citizen to develop an open-source publishing platform for online news organizations to use free-of-charge.
The two nonprofit online news sources said the goals of the platform they will develop are to enable other online news organizations to engage with readers, manage content, and raise revenue, and the platform should be inexpensive to implement, yet flexible enough to keep up the pace with innovations in the industry.
Knight Foundation Hires Gannett’s Michael Maness, Promotes Eric Newton
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the hiring of Michael Maness (pictured) as vice president of its journalism and media innovation program and the promotion of journalism program VP Eric Newton to the new post of senior advisor to the president.
Maness had been VP of innovation and design at Gannett, and he will succeed Newton. He has been a member of the Knight Foundation’s journalism advisory committee for the past four years.
Newton has been VP of the journalism program since 2006. In his new role, he will help pursue strategic partnerships and new ideas.
Dec. 1 Deadline for Knight News Challenge
Dec. 1 is the deadline to apply for the Knight News Challenge, a grant competition in which the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awards up to $5 million annually “for innovative projects that use digital technology to transform the way communities send, receive, and make use of news and information,”
Applications are being accepted in four categories: mobile, authenticity, sustainability, and community. All projects must make use of digital technology to distribute news in the public interest.
The Knight Foundation also provide an FAQ page and an archived chat transcript to help answer potential entrants’ questions.
Center for Public Integrity Teams Up with American Public Media, Public Insight Network
Integrity is making a comeback in journalism: The Center for Public Integrity added to its flurry of recent announcements the news that it entered into a partnership with American Public Media and its Public Insight Network, which allows journalists to share observations, insights, and experience.
The Center for Public Integrity announced Thursday that it will refocus on digital, aiming to generate more accountability reporting, new audiences, and earned revenues in the digital marketplace, as well as revamping its Web site, expanding its newsroom, and launching a new digital delivery system.
The organization received a $1.7 million grant earlier this month from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Huffington Post Investigative Fund agreed to become part of the Center for Public Integrity, also earlier this month.
ProPublica and the Center for Investigative Reporting are also part of the partnership with APM.
Center for Public Integrity Adopts Digital Strategy
The Center for Public Integrity is refocusing on digital, announcing that it will aim to generate more accountability reporting, new audiences, and earned revenues in the digital marketplace, as well as revamping its Web site, expanding its newsroom, and launching a new digital delivery system.
Two grants totaling $1.95 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation were credited with the strategy shift.
The news follows an announcement earlier this month that the Huffington Post Investigative Fund will become part of the Center for Public Integrity.
The Center for Public Integrity promised more details within the next 60 days.
Knight Foundation Gets $2M Grant from Google
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has 2 million reasons to be happy Tuesday courtesy of Google, which provided it with a $2 million grant to support its media-innovation work.
The Knight Foundation said it has invested more than $100 million over the past five years in a multifaceted media-innovation initiative covering national media policy, technology innovation, public media transformation, and the evolution of the Web.
