Covering Communities |
William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications |
The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation |
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation |
About Us

Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab and a member of the Covering Communities advisory committee, talks with Rich Harwood, president of the Harwood Institute. She sees too many stories that are devoid of emotion, that are event-driven and catastrophe-driven. Journalists need new skill sets today, Schaffer says.


Read Our Bios
Who We Are
From 2005 to 2007, a six-member advisory committee comprised of journalism professionals from around the country worked on the project.
Partner News
Knight News Challenge
In May, Knight announced the first-year winners of its news challenge to propose innovative ideas for using digital news and information to build community. And, Knight will be awarding another $5 million for the next round. You can apply if you have an idea to transform community news. The deadline is Nov. 1, 2007.
Home > About Us
Expanding What We Value

This Web site came about thanks to the Knight Foundation, which awarded grants in 2005 to Richard Harwood of The Harwood Institute and Peggy Kuhr at the University of Kansas. Our partnership resulted in this set of tools that distilled years of research and work with journalists and communities. To learn more about us, read our bios.

As technology changes how all of us create, receive and disseminate news, we put the focus on what is lasting: a core understanding of how people come together to form communities, how communities work, and how journalism intersects with virtual and geographic communities.

Mission Statement

We seek to motivate members of the journalism community by broadening the understanding of how communities work and by showing how to apply that knowledge. We hope to become a valuable resource to those in the journalism field, providing working journalists, journalism students, educators and citizen journalists with a Web site that includes insights about community knowledge, training materials and examples of community journalism today.

coveringcommunities@gmail.com


Covering Communities Project Leaders, 2005-2007:

Peggy Kuhr, Knight Chair, University of Kansas,
and incoming dean, University of Montana Journalism School

Richard Harwood, Founder and President,
The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation
Bethesda, MD