During the foundation's early years, and spurred on by Senator and Mrs. Guggenheim's Second Letter of Gift, dated June 7, 1929, the Trustees of the Foundation sought to more fully realize the goal of "better international understanding" by expanding eligibility for Fellowships to citizens of other countries in the Western Hemisphere. As Senator Guggenheim explained, in their First Letter of Gift he and his wife had intentionally not limited the Foundation to appointing Fellows from the United States: "We had in mind then what we desire to make effective now by this new endowment, namely, to assist in increasing the interaction among the American republics, each upon the other, in the arts and sciences, in education, and in the learned professions. "My brothers and I have long been engaged in commerce with many of the republics to the south of the United States, and we know that there are no longer any important factors of economic isolation separating us. But a similar commerce … [Read more...]

Knight News Challenge winners receive $4.7 million, including $1 million in support from Google; winners include traditional news organizations and Internet entrepreneurs, projects focused on government transparency, mobile and more. Cambridge, Mass. (June 22, 2011) Sixteen ideas that push the future of news and information will receive $4.7 million in funding as winners of the Knight News Challenge, an international media innovation contest funding digital news experiments that inform and engage communities. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the winners today at the MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference. The ideas come from leading Internet entrepreneurs including Christina Xu and Jesse James Garrett, and top legacy newsrooms like the Associated Press and Chicago Tribune, and originate in North Carolina, Chile and the U.K.  Together, they employ a range of techniques for delivering news and information in the digital age. They include experiments to: Help … [Read more...]