This is your place to work through an idea for the News Challenge, a yearly contest to find ideas about the future of local news delivery, funded by the Knight Foundation.

On this site you can draft answers to the application questions; mentors, past winners, and other Garage members will comment and help you make them stronger.

And, if you need additional support, you can find the rest of your team here by posting a query on the job board and asking if anyone else has a similar idea that you could collaborate with in your project. Or, if you need tech or design help, you can post an invite for someone with those skills to get in touch.

Remember, everything here is open and public, so we can all help in the development of your ideas.

The official application opens online on September 2nd (so in a few weeks, you can apply by going to the News Challenge site or from the apply page in the menu above). The Garage is meant to support the application process; use it to improve and tune up your idea before you formally enter the contest.

Meanwhile, let's talk about your great ideas (and we'll still be open until November 1st, when the online application closes). Come on in and create an account--

Update: to request a mentor, go to the contact form and select 'request mentor' in the drop-down list. There's a list of mentors on the about page.

-Kristen