The co-chairs of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy are Theodore B. Olson, American lawyer and former Solicitor General of the United States, and Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google.
The Commission held its first public meeting in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2008, and subsequent meetings or community forums in Aspen, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; Missoula, Montana; Mountain View, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Washington, D.C.[2] The Knight Commission released its report, Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age on October 2, 2009.
[3] On October 28, 2009, the Federal Communications Commission appointed Steven Waldman, Steven Waldman president and editor-in-chief of beliefnet.com, "to lead an agency-wide initiative to assess the state of media in these challenging economic times and make recommendations designed to ensure a vibrant media landscape."
[1] The 17 members of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy are: Marissa Mayer, co-chair, vice president of Search Product and User Experience, Google Theodore B. Olson, co-chair, constitutional lawyer and former Solicitor General of the United States Danah Boyd, social media researcher at Microsoft Research and Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University John S. Carroll, former editor, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader Robert W. Decherd, chief executive officer, A.H. Belo Corporation Reed Hundt, former chairman, Federal Communications Commission Alberto Ibargüen, ex officio, president and chief executive officer, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Walter Isaacson, ex officio, president and chief executive officer, The Aspen Institute Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and chief executive officer, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Mary Junck, chairman and chief executive officer, Lee Enterprises Monica Lozano, publisher and chief executive officer, La Opinión Lisa MacCallum, managing director and general manager, Nike Foundation Andrew Mooney, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation/Chicago (LISC) Donna Nicely, director, Nashville Public Library Michael Powell, former chairman, Federal Communications Commission Rey Ramsey, co-founder and chief executive officer, One Economy Corporation Paul Sagan, president and chief executive officer, Akamai Peter Shane, executive director of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy , Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law, Ohio State University The Commission report, Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age, represents one of the most comprehensive initiatives to identify the various types of information that individuals and communities need in order to function and thrive in the digital era.
[7] The Commission report was presented to several notable federal officials during a forum at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on October 2, 2009.