The citizen journalism and new media movements have made it increasingly possible for anyone to be heard in the media, first as sources and then as writers. But what if these interested and informed citizens became builders and innovators as well? The Awesome News Taskforce wants to empower anybody to create and test out community information and journalism projects of their own -- $1,000 at a time.
The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences was started in the summer of 2009 by Tim Hwang. During his undergrad years at Harvard, Tim was notorious for his long history of bizarre endeavors, from leading a cardboard penguin invasion to running for student government under an anarchist platform.
After graduation, Tim stayed in Boston and became interested in supporting crazy projects on a larger scale. He got 10 of his friends to agree to each set aside $100 per month to give to a project they collectively deemed "awesome," whatever that meant. Anyone could apply for the microgrant by answering seven basic questions, and whoever won would take home the cash upfront with no strings attached. Marketing was done through word of mouth, grant decisions were made by consensus, and a sense of humor was mandatory.
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