Knight Foundation money encourages use of new media in communities

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to the Marajen Stevick Foundation to pay for projects that use new media and technology to engage communities.

The Stevick Foundation is one of several foundations and organizations around the country receiving the grants as part of the Knight Foundation's Community Information Challenge, a five-year, $24 million initiative, according to a release from the Knight Foundation.

The Marajen Stevick Foundation was created by the estate of Marajen Stevick Chinigo, the late owner and publisher of The News-Gazette. The foundation was established to preserve local ownership of The News-Gazette and to fund charitable literary and educational activities of the University of Illinois Foundation and the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois.

The Marajen Stevick Foundation will use the grant to design ways to reach the 20 percent of area residents living below the poverty line, many of whom do not have access to services. The project may involve cell-phone alerts, bilingual radio and television reports and training citizen reporters. An interactive Web site also will be created.

The project will be a partnership between The News-Gazette and the UI College of Media.

"We firmly believe that you cannot effectively manage the affairs of a community in a democracy without the free flow of information. That's why we believe that information is a core community need, as critical as any to a healthy community," said Alberto Ibarguen, Knight Foundation's president and CEO, in a written release announcing the grant recipients.

"Our goal at Knight is informed and engaged communities. Community foundations were established to meet core community needs, so they are logical partners," he added.