Ashoka is pleased to announce its 2008 cohort of News & Knowledge Entrepreneurs. These remarkable innovators are creating transformative social impact with new strategies and models that more effectively inform, engage, and connect people as active, change-making citizens.

Click here to View of Map of Ashoka's 2008 News & Knowledge Entrepreneurs

MEMBER:
Jimmy Wales, United States [St. Petersburg, Florida]
www.wikipedia.org
Jimmy has built a (much) better encyclopedia. His Wikipedia is a free online, multilingual, open-source reference collection written and edited collaboratively by hundreds of thousands of participants around the world. Wikipedia has, in a few short years, radically democratized the act of information collection—and has generated an enormous trove of knowledge accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

SENIOR FELLOWS:
Sandy Close, United States
www.ncmonline.org
Sandy’s New American media is a network of ethnic news organizations designed to give previously disenfranchised voices a critical mass in American media. With well over 2000 media outlets nationwide, her collaboration produces and aggregates editorial content and, at least as important, offers a one-buy, one-bill social marketing arm that consolidates an enormous advertising market.

Reza Deghati, Afghanistan [Paris, France]
www.ainaworld.org
Since 2001, Reza has worked to rebuild democratic civil society in Afghanistan by developing vital independent media. His organization, AINA, has trained over 1,000 Afghanis to work in news. Its eight publications reach millions of readers, and its women-led radio stations broadcast across the country.  Reza’s new initiative, “Open Mind,” will introduce similar strategies to other countries in turmoil.

Sasa Vucinic, Global [Singapore]
www.mdlf.org
Sasa is creating a new class of media entrepreneurs by providing affordable and targeted capital, technical and accounting supports, and peer-to-peer connections. His Media Development Loan Fund has deployed nearly $70 million to 64 alternative media organizations in 22 countries—mostly, places without a tradition of press freedom—creating a new class of entrepreneurs who do good business and make good news.

FELLOWS:
Shafqat Munir Ahmad, Pakistan [Islamabad]
www.jdhr.org
Shafqat is laying the groundwork for a responsible and effective news media in Pakistan. His Journalists for Democracy and Human Rights connects media professionals with social leaders and academics, providing expertise and contacts to proactively report on the most neglected segments of society. Shaqfat has trained more than 1200 reporters and editors, and his campaigns have led to greater media coverage of human trafficking, migration, and HIV/AIDS.

Som Nath Aryal, Nepal [Madanpokhara, Palpa]
www.community-radio-madanpokhara.org
Som Nath has reconceived radio as an engine for social engagement. His Community Radio Madanpokhara mobilizes women, community forest users and others to inform, engage, and connect people as active, change-making citizens. Villagers participate in program production and station governance, and contribute rice and timber to fund operations. Most impressive, Som Nath has mobilized 6,000 rural youth to raise funds, gather content, and organize community activities.

Carlos Correa, Venezuela [Caracas]
www.espaciopublico.info
Carlos’ Espacio Público is working to establish freedom of expression as an undeniable human right in Venezuela, building the foundation for an accountable, high-quality press. He runs a “social observatory,” a research group on press freedom; alliances and workshops linking editors, academics, and grassroots organizations; and programs that provide news professionals and citizens alike the training and legal defense resources to give voice to Venezuela’s social reality.

Fabrice Florin, United States [Mill Valley, Calif.]
www.newstrust.net
In an era of information overload, who can we believe? Fabrice’s NewsTrust.net is an Internet platform that provides dynamic news feeds, news literacy tools, and a “trust network” designed to help people think critically about the information they consume. Members rate articles from online sources on actual quality—fairness, sourcing, and context. Partner news organizations, which include Slate and the Huffington Post, embed NewsTrust’s rating tools on their sites.

Michael Gleich, Germany [Munich]
www.peace-counts.org/eng/index.html
Michael sees too many journalists dwelling on the world’s problems; his Peace Counts, by contrast, targets solutions. It trains reporters and editors around the world to cover peace and reconciliation processes, and to make those stories tangible for readers. It’s also a news service, distributing stories within the crisis region and beyond. Michael provides the best pieces to mainstream newspapers and magazines in Germany—and they’ve won enormous audience acclaim.

Gregor Hackmack, Germany [Hamburg]
www.abgeordnetenwatch.de
Gregor has created an impartial online platform enabling direct, public dialogue between individual citizens, their elected representatives, and the German news media. His Web gateways, Parliament Watch and Candidate Watch, cast light on the often hidden business of parliamentary politics, letting anyone track politicians’ speeches, contributions to debates, and voting records—and create forums for unaccustomed interaction between politicians and their constituents.

Sanjana Hattotuwa, Sri Lanka [Colombo]
www.groundviews.org
Sanjana has leveraged new media and encryption technologies to create a safe space for citizen reporters in Sri Lanka to document war, peace, human rights and social justice. His tri-lingual, online Groundviews (including a mobile-phone version), Voices of Reconciliation Radio, Vikalpa and Vikalpa Video change the way content is created and distributed, allowing citizens to engage in critical dialogues and subverting the ongoing threat of government censorship and control.

Štefan Hríb, Slovakia [Bratislava]
tyzden.sk
Amid broad citizen apathy and distrust of mainstream media, Stefan is developing new forms of independent news coverage. Among other projects, his acclaimed weekly periodical Týždeň proves that Slovakian media can be independent, ethical, and objective—and commercially sustainable. Stefan also is training the next generation of Central European reporters and editors to revitalize a field that has struggled for decades to remain relevant.

Hamadou Tidiane Sy, Senegal [Dakar]
www.ouestaf.com
Hamadou’s insight: Amid the wasteland of mediocre or corrupt media of West Africa, there is demand for independent investigative reporting by and for Africans. His new Ouestaf News is a Pan-African news service offering high-quality stories free to both online readers and to mainstream newspapers and other outlets that republish the work. Africable, a Bamako-based TV network, recently began incorporating Ouestaf stories in its business program, and a deal with cell-phone carriers is in the works.