Today the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation concluded its sixth annual Media Learning Seminar: a gathering of community leaders, tech experts and philanthropic organizations which explored how foundations can -- and are -- helping people get better informed about issues that shape their communities.

Some highlights:

KCIC moves forward. As we reported earlier, Knight has expanded and extended its Community Information Challenge program. [email protected] will continue to be a crucial part of this effort.

Community foundations: moments of truth. Insights shared in solo talks included the power of a strong story, chasing IRS 501c3 status, filling reporting gaps as established news organizations retreat, and more. Similarly, a roundtable discussion explored how four community foundations assumed a bigger role in engaging citizens with news and information.

Beyond sustainability: thriving. The Texas Tribune, the Sundance Institute (of the famed film festival) and Los Angeles NPR affiliate KCRW shared their success stories -- specifically, how they progressed beyond simply enduring to thriving. Lessons include:

• Partnerships help. "Big brands amplify and magnify what artists are doing already."
• Live events diversify revenue. At the Texas Tribune, live events supply 20% of revenue.
• Stay relevant. KCRW "defines itself as far more than a radio station. It has instead moved to position itself a source of music discovery, and a source of creativity, art, culture, news and information."
• Experiment with new technologies. Examples discussed include Google+ Hangouts and an iPa music discovery app.
• Data mining for donors. The Texas Tribune "mined Federal Election Commission data to see potential political donors its fundraisers could approach."

Design thinking for community media. The concept of design thinking integrates human behavior with what's technologically viable to create new products. Fred Dust, a partner in the product/system development firm IDEO joined Knight's VP Journalism and Media Innovation, Michael Maness, to discuss how to apply design thinking in order to better inform communities.

Some of the takeaways:

• The future relies on changes you make now. Get good at spotting it.
• Invest time observing and not assuming.
• Aim for action as soon as possible.

Jonah Lehrer regrets ethical lapses. Last July journalist Jonah Lehrer was forced to resign from the New Yorker and Wired magazine after it was revealed that he'd fabricated quotes from Bob Dylan in his bestselling book. Further investigation into Lehrer's work found that he had plagiarized the work of other writers as well as himself -- recycling his own previously published work for which he did not own content rights.

Lehrer observed: "I found the broken part of me and that part has a name. My arrogance, need for attention, carelessness, the ability to make excuses to explain my carelessness and my tendency to believe my own excuses."

For more MLS 2013 highlights, see the KnightBlog. Also, watch the Knight Community Information Challenge website for archive video of the plenary sessions and more. And follow the continuing conversation on Twitter: #infoneeds.