“How might we improve the flow of accurate information?” The Democracy Fund, Knight Foundation and Rita Allen Foundation believe that informed communities are fundamental to a healthy American democracy. On March 12, these three NGO teamed up to launch a joint fund to support fresh and creative ideas to counter the spread of misinformation and build trust in quality journalism.
The coalition expects “to award up to $1 million in grants with an average size of about $50,000”, and “each grant comes with a two-day training on building and evolving ideas through prototyping”. Any U.S.-based organization (either non-profit or for-profit) or individual may apply for the fund.
“We’re looking for technologists, journalists, designers, teachers, researchers, and others who are eager to develop ideas to help ensure all people have access to accurate information. We understand issues of trust and misinformation are nuanced and complicated, and we are looking for ideas and collaborations that can help bring new voices and vision to these debates.” Knight Foundation (press release).
In France, some media have also developed tools to fight misinformation, such as Le Décodex (The Decoder) by Le Monde newspaper, and Inspecteur Viral (Viral Inspector), a section of the online news media Métro, both of which are dedicated to verifying viral information circulating in the media landscape. In London in January, Hack Brexit, a hackathon to create tools that counteracted messy or misleading political campaigns, released its first two prototypes.
Apply for the Prototype Fund (before April 3rd at 5pm ET)