Welcome to the Free Press blog! We post several times a week on everything from Internet access to free speech to media mergers, so check back often to see what we’re up to.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) opened today’s FCC oversight meeting by singing Net Neutrality’s praises and pledging to co-sponsor the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, which would make Net Neutrality the law.
The Rocky Mountain News made great strides to become a newspaper that reflected the diversity of the local community. But its closure does not bode well for the future of minority media. The following is a guest post from Dr. Delio D. Tamayo, a former member of the Rocky Mountain News Latino Advisory Council:
The closing of the Rocky Mountain News after 150 years of uninterrupted publication prompted me to ponder the future of journalism and of the newspaper industry in particular. As a resident of Colorado and a former member of the Rocky Mountain News Latino Advisory Council, I feel particularly affected by the loss of the paper.
We could just sit back and bemoan the crisis facing journalism. Or we could do something about it. We’re choosing the latter.
On Wednesday, Free Press’ SaveTheNews.org campaign is hosting a free community forum in Denver, Colo., to bring together concerned citizens, journalists, policymakers and community leaders to discuss what policies we need — and what actions we can take — to support quality journalism.
In the midst of this journalism crisis, which is not simply about newspapers dying but about quality reporting disappearing across platforms, there was a kernel of hope this week. Call it a moment of sanity. It came during President Obama’s remarks at the memorial service for the late CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite.
Obama said, “Journalism is more than a career; it is a public good vital to our democracy.” Read the full transcript or watch the video:
The Pentagon has been compiling secret background profiles of journalists seeking to embed with the military, the newspaper Stars & Stripes reported last month.
I usually don’t spend a whole lot of time debunking the more crazy conspiracy theories about Net Neutrality because I presume most online users are smart enough not to be suckered into sideshow distractions, usually paid for by providers trying to wave shiny keys at consumers to get them to support things exactly opposite their own best interests.
On Thursday, Sept. 3, foundation leaders, journalists and concerned citizens gathered here at SaveTheNews.org to discuss the role of foundations in the future of journalism.
Many participants were enthusiastic about what appears to be a new era in foundation funding for local, state and national reporting projects. As more foundations turn their attention to the news and information needs of communities, participants expressed hope that this funding model could help to develop a strong and vibrant noncommercial journalism sector in America.
This post is part of our week-long forum on foundation-funded journalism. Join us this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET to chat live with these writers.
A lot of important questions about foundation-funded journalism are being kicked around these days. Can foundations fill the void? Will they try to skew coverage? Is their support reliable? Or is it a fad?
I've been mulling a more basic question: Do foundations know what the heck they're getting themselves into? I'm not so sure.
This post is part of our week-long forum on foundation-funded journalism. Join us this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET to chat live with these writers.
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I was fairly sure, based on anecdotal evidence, that something new was happening in the world of foundation-funded journalism. Too many new nonprofit news organizations were springing up, most of them sporting foundation funding. But the real clincher came in a conversation I had with Bill Buzenberg, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity. Bill told me that suddenly, he was getting cold calls from foundations offering up to seven figures’ worth of help in funding the center's investigative reporting work. "The demise of media is happening so quickly," he said, "that it does have the attention of funders... New funders have come to us -- in part because they see what's happening."
Chris, McGreal, a reporter for Britain's Guardian newspaper, took to the road last month to report on how Americans living along Route 66--made famous in John Steinbeck's fictional Grapes of Wrath journey--are faring during the recession.
