The Knight Foundation, a group aimed at supporting quality journalism, awarded $3.4 million to various projects designed to “strength the internet for free expression and innovation.”
Through its “Knight News Challenge,” the foundation awarded 19 projects from $35,000 to $500,000, according to a press release.The largest award went to the New York Public Library for its “Check Out the Internet” initiative, which allows public members to borrow portable Wi-Fi hotspot devices for up to a year.
Other winners from the likes of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Open Technology Institute at New America included projects to diversify the technology workforce, organize information about online censorship, and rank the world's tech companies on how well they protect free expression and users' privacy.
The Knight Foundation collaborated with the Ford Foundation and Mozilla Foundation to distribute the awards.
