Madison Commons is an ongoing, integrated project of CCD.  The Commons was founded in 2006 to provide news and information from all of the neighborhoods in Madison, Wisconsin.

The name comes from the idea of a village commons — a place for news, talk, debate, and entertainment — that’s open to everyone. The project is a collaboration between Madison citizens from every part of the city, as well as faculty and graduate students at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication led by Professor Lew Friedland.

Today, they focus on three areas that are important to the Madison community that are rarely covered in enough depth:  education, local food, and transportation.

Some stories come from graduate and undergraduate student reporters and editors. Others come from citizen reporters or local bloggers. And other information comes from local data pulled together because it might be useful or interesting.  Madison Commons takes story suggestions from all over the community.

The Commons is sponsored by the Morgridge Center for Public Service, UW-Madison, WISC-TV/Channel 3000, Community Shares, and the UW-School of Journalism and Mass Communication.  It has also received important funding from J-Lab, sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment.