A View from the Field: Holding the Administration Accountable

We provide regular updates from the field as staffers work alongside our amazing allies and activists to create a just and equitable media system.

• Nora Benavidez took part in the panel discussion “The Future of Press Freedom in an Era of Democratic Backsliding,” which the Knight First Amendment Institute held in partnership with the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security. She discussed the Trump administration’s “lawless activity,” which has included the targeting of journalists like Mario Guevara, who was deported to his native El Salvador in violation of his First Amendment rights. Watch the conversation.
• Vanessa Maria Graber received a standing ovation after she delivered the keynote address at the Rocky Mountain Community Radio Annual Conference. She discussed community media’s role in protecting free speech, addressing the local-news crisis and serving underrepresented communities while our democracy is under threat.
• The Hispanic Public Relations Association gave Julio Ricardo Varela its Journalist of the Year award. “Long before it was a part of our norm, Julio built one of the first Latino-led independent news spaces online, proving that a small, community-rooted outlet could shape coverage and defend editorial freedom,” said HPRA National President Sonia V. Diaz.
• In October, the Media 2070 team — Diamond Hardiman, Anshantia Oso, Joseph Torres and Venneikia Williams — traveled to Houston to launch the fifth version of the Black Future Newsstand. The programming continued in November with three events. The Reading Room hosted a teach-in about Black women artists who explore rematriation, land stewardship and memory. The PECAN Project hosted a trail ride with Big Body Ryders and Ice House Radio that addressed reproductive rights and climate justice in deep East Texas. The final event —Neo-Sowl: Third Coast Communion — was “a sacred sonic gathering … merging neo-soul frequencies, live instrumentation, and spoken word into a collective sound healing.”
• Free Press Action’s Mike Rispoli testified before New Jersey’s Senate Legislative Oversight Committee about the future of public media in the state. In September, NJ PBS, New Jersey’s only dedicated public-television station, announced that it will shut down in the summer of 2026. The end of federal support for public media was a death knell for this station. “In New Jersey, where local commercial broadcast media is in short supply, it must be said that policymakers should reaffirm and expand their decades-long commitment to the essential role that public broadcasting plays in the lives of their constituents,” Mike said. “Public broadcasting provides free, accessible, high-quality news and information that fills a critical need for residents of this state that otherwise would not be met.” Read his complete testimony.