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newschallenge.org
Carnegie Mellon undergrad Dan Schultz wants "where?" to be an easier question to answer online. |
Along with funding various innovative projects, the Knight Foundation's
News Challenge contest also is supporting the refinement of certain promising ideas.
Daniel Schultz, an undergraduate studying information systems at Carnegie Mellon University, has received a
$15,000 News Challenge grant to blog for a year about his idea: an open repository for location-tagged user-created news and media.
Guest contributor Anthony Wojtkowiak recently interviewed Schultz.
Wojtkowiak:In a nutshell, what is your project?
Schultz: My project is twofold. First, I'll be maintaining a blog where I'll discuss and develop my ideas for a user-maintained news media system. But I'll also comment on the other News Challenge winners' projects from my perspective as an information systems and computer science person.
My idea is for a news media system where content is provided by users and tagged with data about relevant locations (such as a city or college campus), GPS coordinates, and categories. Media consumers would then be able to receive news that is relevant to them by specifying regions of interest.
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Wojtkowiak:What's new about that? Can't I already specify location preferences to existing news sources and get updates about my area?Schultz: Well, much of what's new about this idea comes from the fact that the information is organized under one system. One of the problems with existing online news sources of all types is that there are just so many of them.
With this system, a consumer would get a much wider array of information -- the content wouldn't be limited to the scope of just one site or source. You wouldn't just give preferences about your location; you might also want to get news about a relative's location or your favorite vacation spot.
Another major innovation in this idea is the democratic nature of content management. Since this site is intended to facilitate all kinds of journalism while maintaining quality standards, consumers will be asked to help moderate, tag, and ultimately act as second editors.
Wojtkowiak:Sounds ambitious. How will you balance time for developing this project, blogging about it, and critiquing other winners' projects as a busy undergrad?
Schultz: (Laughs) I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get there, but it is important to note that I won't be spending time creating this system -- just designing and thinking about it.
Wojtkowiak:Why did your project win Knight's News Challenge?
Schultz: I think that the main ideas in my proposal combined with a ready-to-learn attitude may have been what caught the Knight Foundation's eye. It seems to me that the journalism industry is looking to bring in 20 year olds with fresh ideas. Oh, and technical know-how also helped I'm sure.
Wojtkowiak:Do you have any advice for other 20-somethings who might want to enter this contest?
Schultz: If you're going to dream, dream well. Just sit down and brainstorm with a friend or two and put ideas on paper. And get as many smart people to look over your proposal as possible.
Anthony Wojtkowiak is a journalism intern for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
