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.
According to a new independent analysis of funding sources for public media released Wednesday, “the loss of federal support for public broadcasting risks the collapse of the system.” Here at Free Press we’ve long made this same case about the crucial need for federal funding, but this report provides striking new evidence of just how bad it would be if this money were cut.
We’re excited to announce the launch of the brand-new website for Free Press and our Save the Internet campaign. The site features a fresh design and clean look with easy access to all of our actions, blog posts, press releases and resources.
Our site was built for exploration. Take some time to poke around and discover the work we do. And don’t forget to take action on our campaigns for universal and affordable Internet access, diverse media ownership, vibrant public media and quality journalism.
It’s encouraging to see that some members on Capitol Hill
haven’t forgotten why they’re in Washington: to serve the people who elected
them — and not the companies that paid for their campaigns.
Broadcasters are trying to gut the Federal Communications Commission's new rule requiring online posting of public and political files. Last month, the National Association of Broadcasters filed a lawsuit to reverse the FCC’s action. Another coalition of large TV station owners has formally asked the FCC to reconsider its decision. Broadcasters have also enlisted powerful allies in Congress in an effort to cut FCC funding to implement the rule.
The media landscape is
shifting and becoming more participatory, and people want to do more than just
read the news. They want to be co-creators, collaborators and distributors.
While
newsrooms have invested in various forms of community engagement — from
mobilizing local bloggers into coordinated networks to using robust social
media strategies to organizing community events — there is still a lot we don’t
know about how to assess and measure the impact of this work.
On Monday, Verizon Wireless introduced data-sharing plans that will give users a monthly allotment of data to be used across all of their devices. The new option to share data will push customers to pay more for a limited amount of data, and it comes with a fee just to connect a device to the network. Even before using any shared data, a family of four would have to pay $160 each and every month just to connect four smartphones to Verizon's network.
After becoming the epicenter for
press suppression and journalist arrests over the last nine months, the NYPD is
trying to rewrite history and pretend like nothing ever happened.
Last week’s announcement that the New
Orleans Times-Picayune would be
slashing its staff and cutting its print run to just three days a week has
sparked a new round of debates about the future of news. But one piece has been
missing in this discussion: the role of media policy.
