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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- June 25, 2020
Featured
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In a push to produce better sustainability for newsrooms and digital outlets across the country, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced June 22 that it has awarded D.C. Witness, a Washington, DC nonprofit organization, with a grant to improve digital publishing solutions.
The $20,000 grant focuses on improving distribution, community engagement and revenue opportunities, such as digital subscriptions and membership, through digital platforms.
Grants were given to 24 recipients across the country with a focus on local journalism. D.C. Witness’ mission focuses on criminal justice transparency during a time when citizens are calling for change in the criminal justice system.
“This is a time where trust in the criminal justice system needs to be reestablished, and what better way to do that than by data transparency,” said Amos Gelb, D.C. Witness publisher and chair of the board. “D.C. Witness provides the public with information on specific crimes with the intention that data on these crimes could empower several governmental and community entities with knowledge to produce policies that are better equipped to stop these horrific acts.”
As a community organization devoted to giving a voice to residents who are often overlooked in the wake of crime, D.C. Witness is hopeful that the grant will enable the nonprofit to create more data visualizations and reach a bigger audience looking for content that includes hard statistics on crime.
The grant, which is a part of a $20 million initiative will not only improve the way D.C. Witness’ content is published, but also strengthens the news site’s mobile agility to make accessing information from phones, tablets and other mobile devices easy and simple for users.
“We are in the courthouse. We gather the data. We disseminate the information,” Gelb said. “Let’s stop throwing together policies that are not backed by real data. We have the data.”
According to Gelb, the grant will enable the non-profit organization to continue to produce innovative measures to disseminate data and articles on homicides, domestic abuse and sexual assault in the city.
Knight, along with News Revenue Hub, a nonprofit organization that works with publishers on building membership revenue, growing audiences and developing sustainable business practices, developed the grant for newsrooms focused on providing local journalism.
“Now, more than ever, it’s critical for newsrooms and publishers to adopt digital solutions that meet audiences where they are and provide new revenue opportunities,” said Paul Cheung, Knight Foundation director for journalism and technology innovation. “These outstanding news organizations now have the opportunity to leverage technology to maximize their revenue and better serve their communities.”