OpenNews/FAQ
What is OpenNews?
Knight-Mozilla OpenNews (previously known as MoJo for "Mozilla + Journalism") is a three-year project that will place creative thinkers with open web skillsets within news organizations for 10-month, paid fellowships. Knight-Mozilla Fellows will be tasked with developing new journalism tools built on open technologies.
In addition, OpenNews is dedicated to strengthening and growing the community around journalism code through the sponsorship of hack days, organizing learning labs, our community calls, and the website Source.
Who's involved?
Currently, the Knight Foundation and Mozilla are the primary partners. In 2012, we had Fellows at five host news organizations: BBC, Boston.com, the Guardian, Al Jazeera English, and Zeit Online. In 2013 we expanded to include the New York Times, ProPublica, Spiegel Online, and La Nacion. In addition to those partners, we are working closely with the Hacks/Hackers network, with many universities, and with numerous other news organizations. We welcome any individual or organization interested in solving journalism's technology challenges to get involved in the growing community that is supporting the project.
Why is Mozilla interested in media and journalism?
The news industry is a major player in the web space, and it is at a crossroads. Many players are making important web technology decisions and investments that will shape how we experience the web for years to come. We want to provide news organizations with open technology options as they make those decisions. Because news is at the center of many people's web use, this is an opportunity to reach a huge population with Mozilla's open web values and working with open technology.
What is the Knight Foundation?
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.
How can I get involved?
The first step is to visit the Get Involved page at mozillaopennews.org. Depending on your skills and interests, you could organize a hack day, contribute to Source, learn more about the Knight-Mozila Fellowship, or let us know how you'd like to connect.
Is the fellowship intended primarily for journalists, developers, or both?
The Knight-Mozilla Fellowship program is designed specifically to engage developers, hackers, engineers, and technologists and bring them into the newsroom as fellows. The entire Knight-Mozilla OpenNews program, however, takes a broader look at participation and wants to engage both technically-minded individuals as well as journalists looking to engage in technological problems/solutions.
For additional frequently asked questions about the Fellowship, please see the FAQ on the OpenNews website.
Add your own questions here!
Really. Go ahead and register for a MozillaWiki account and add your questions. Or email us and we'll add questions to this section.
You can also check out the Q&A from our community call for additional answers about the Fellowship program.
