Deadline Passed!

The winners will be announced at a symposium and luncheon at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2009.

J-Lab will again reward innovative ideas, large and small - multimedia advances, new participatory journalism ideas or novel ways to engage audiences in important issues. "Big-J" and "Small-J" ideas encouraged. Grand Prize is $10,000; $5,000 in Special Distinction and Wild Card Awards; $1,000 Citizen Media Award.

Last year's innovators revealed corporate whitewashing of Wikipedia entries, helped people map political violence in Kenya, separated fact from falsehood in the presidential campaign, and delivered hyperlocal coverage of development in the District of Columbia's most neglected quadrant. See 2008 winners and notables.

2008 New Voices Grantees Launch

Several 2008 New Voices grantees have launched Web sites for their projects:

• Grassroots, Blue Sky: Stories that Fly
  Kent State's digital journalism project on general aviation.
• Lives in Focus: Family Life Behind Bars
  A CUNY site to help families of prisoners.
• Appalachian Independent
  A new community news site for Frostburg, Md.

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Playing the News

On Sept. 11, 2008, J-Lab hosted several news gaming pioneers for a workshop with the Online News Association convention. Their work is available in the Games category of Cool Stuff:

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Citizen Media Entrepreneurial Ventures

Around the world, ordinary people are contributing photos, video and their own stories to the news and information landscape. From placeblogs to hyperlocal Web sites, these ventures are gaining momentum. J-Lab spotlighted some examples at the 2008 UNITY Convention.
Check out audio highlights and slideshows.

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Check out the Women Entrepreneur Blogs

Three McCormick New Media Women Entrepreneurs received $10,000 from J-Lab to launch innovative news ventures. Check out their blogs at NewMediaWomen.org.

Echo, a system of public storytelling installations in Atlanta. Led by Lila King and Karyn Lu.

Latina Voices, a news site for and by Latinas. Led by Teresa Puente, Columbia College Chicago journalism professor.

Northwest Navy News, a networking site for Puget Sound's military community. Led by Elaine Helm Norton, new media editor at The Daily Herald, Everett, Wash.

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