Director's Notes: While in New York...

• CFJ New York Event. I was honored to give opening remarks at the kickoff of the Challenge Fund for Journalism, which was held Jan. 21 at Associated Press headquarters in New York. Nearly $1 million in grants were awarded to 13 journalism organizations by the CFJ partnership, which includes the McCormick, Ford and Ethics & Excellence in Journalism foundations. The grantees represent youth, ethnic, investigative reporting and individual journalism membership groups. CFJ was launched in 2004. In the previous five rounds, 44 organizations participated, infusing about $8.1 million into the not-for-profit journalism field. TCC Group, a management consulting firm, administers the program for the three foundations. To learn more click here.

• We're Not Dead Yet! Speaking of the Big Apple, a study funded by the McCormick Foundation, reveals the nasty fall and potential rise of high school journalism in New York City. The author, journalism educator Jessica Siegel, reports that only about half of the high schools in the city have student newspapers. And yet, she writes, the survey found "a strong affirmation that having a high school newspaper is part of what makes a school a school, and that journalism can be a means to develop students' writing and bring discussion of larger issues into the school."

• Technology Impacts. The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy believes America is at a critical juncture in the history of communications. The commission's new report, Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age, outlines the impact that technology has and will continue to have in defining the American experience. The study concludes with three ambitious objectives dealing with information needs, capacity and engagement.