Opening Remarks at Aspen Institute FOCAS: ‘Of the Press: Models for Preserving American Journalism’

Informing Communities: Report of the Knight Commission
on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy

The Conference begins with a report from the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy.  An outgrowth of FOCAS 2007, this Commission of 15 distinguished leaders has undertaken the assessment what the information needs are of communities.  The Commission is looking at news from the demand side rather than from the production end, taking a snapshot of how communities’ information needs are being met, and recommending ways that they might be better met in the future.  This will set the stage for the first roundtable discussion on the role of news and journalism in the community.