In May, VillageSoup (a network of popular community news sites in Knox and Waldo counties, Maine) won an $885,000 Knight News Challenge grant to remake and release the technology behind this its sites as free, open source software.

[B]eing a community host requires more than a software system, said Anderson. "A new culture has to be adopted wherein the site becomes thecommunity's site, not controlled by the host. We believe the passion required to properly serve a community stems from local ownership or local independence that a franchise model doesn't yield."

Ultimately, Anderson aims to spread local media independence and quality local content sustained by new revenue, including Internet-to-print publishing. In his News Challenge proposal, Anderson wrote that he wants to "Turn independent weekly newspaper companies and entrepreneurs into an imposing, lively, worldwide creative energy that is competitive with media company chains."