When Ashoka’s Changemakers launched Citizen Media: A Global Innovation Competition with Google a few weeks back, we were intentionally broad in our instructions – and were correspondingly unsure about how entrant would respond. “What do we mean by [citizen media]?” we wrote. “Well, we’re waiting for you to tell us.”

Now, they’ve begun to tell us. As of today, we’ve received 116 entries from 38 countries. And we’ve just announced the two winners of our early entry prize -- $500 apiece, plus mentoring from Google staffers. Those early winners may be a barometer for what we’ll end up with when the competition closes Sept. 14 – and indeed, they may signal something about the future of citizen media.

The Changemakers/Google competition is a quest for new solutions that dramatically improve media access and participative citizenship around the world. We’re hoping to identify many, many new innovators whose work will advance the way people get, share, and use information. Among other things, we’re looking for innovations that: