NewsTrust Founder Fabrice Florin named Ashoka Fellow

We're pleased to announce that NewsTrust founder and executive director Fabrice Florin has been elected an Ashoka Fellow for his work as a social entrepreneur to promote quality journalism online.

The Ashoka Fellowship includes a three year stipend for Fabrice's efforts to create "lasting, visible, systemic change in the way society sees journalism." Fabrice will become a lifelong member of the Ashoka community, which includes over 2,000 social entrepreneurs worldwide, working in economic development, education, human rights and other fields.

This fellowship is a key milestone for NewsTrust. Not only will it provide much-needed financial support, but it's also an important validation of our social news network's potential for social change -- as a compelling example of how news consumers and journalists can join forces online to find quality news coverage.

"I've always believed that good information is as important to society as clean water is to the environment," Fabrice said. "In our increasingly polluted media landscape, I see a real and growing need for quality information -- and news literacy tools to tell good journalism apart from misinformation. I want to bring these public services to millions of people, so we can filter news and information collectively, based on shared values that make us better informed as citizens."

Ashoka Innovators for the Public created this journalism fellowship program in February, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, with the goal of identifying "outstanding individuals with ideas that will have far-reaching impact on the field and practice of journalism, using Knight Foundation's definition of good journalism -- the fair, accurate contextual search for truth."

"This is quite an honor, coming from the folks who coined the word 'social entrepreneur,'" Fabrice said. "This gives me a special responsibility to bring this service to a broader community."

In related news, NewsTrust just launched a new version of its website, as described in its recent press release and on its blog.

- by Derek Hawkins, with Kaizar Campwala

Comments

[Solanasaurus]

Congrats Fabrice and Newstrust!

[patricia lherrou]

this is so good, news which may well create greater possibilities of attracting more and more citizens to the site and may create more such sites, encouraging better journalism by encouraging better readership--so vital to a democratic society.

[Fabrice Florin]

Thanks, Solana and Patricia!

Your kind words and early support are much, much appreciated.

We couldn't have made it without the support of people like you -- who gave me the resolve to keep going when times were hard.

I'm very grateful to our entire community for taking a chance with us on this 'improbable journey' ... trusting each other in our collective ability to separate fact from fiction was an important first step -- and you all deserve credit for being early contributors!

[Mike LaBonte]

The Ashoka Fellowship is quite an honor, and in the case of Fabrice, well deserved.