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In July 2012, Humboldt leaders participated in the “Future of Community Information” workshop, a discussion of information accessibility issues to advance civic engagement.
The meeting was part of Access Humboldt’s ongoing effort to develop next-generation local media, supported in part by a grant from the John. S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Groups discussed the media needs of diverse populations (low-income rural communities, policy makers, educators). Central topics included the health of the “information ecosystem”, a concept that describes the supply of news, and the skills and infrastructure needed to access these resources.
Community participants are shown here researching local websites as part of the Knight Foundation Community Information Toolkit workshops.
Researching the accessibility of local websites, participants found documents like school district budgets difficult to find, Spanish language options were limited, and important news stories often received coverage from a single source.
The group recommends improvements in broadband infrastructure, expanded digital and print literacy education, and user-friendly website redesigns as immediate ways to improve the flow of local information.
Attendees included representatives from Eureka City Schools, Humboldt County Office of Education, Redwood Community Action Agency, KEET TV, KHSU, United Way, and local governments. The workshop was facilitated by Heather Equinoss, Program Manager at the Humboldt Area Foundation.
Access Humboldt's implementation of the Community Information Toolkit was made possible by a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
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