CPB grants $1.3 million for election collaboration

CPB has awarded more than $1.3 million to a consortium of public radio and television organizations to support multi-platform coverage of Election 2008. The partners include American Public Media, Capitol News Connection, KQED, NPR, PBS, Public Radio Exchange, Public Radio International/Public Interactive and The NewsHour. The mashup of local and national content will include election video and teaching materials from PBS, a collaborative content initiative called Global Perspectives on Election 2008 from PRI, a collection of election audio and social media content from PRX, and user-generated political commentaries curated by NPR. An interactive election map from The Newshour and NPR and an "Ask Your Lawmaker" web widget from CNC--through which users can question their lawmakers and listen to answers obtained by journalists--are already up and running. Andy Carvin, NPR's senior strategist for online communities, writes more about the project here.