A View from the Field: Fighting AI & Strengthening Journalism

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

• Jenna Ruddock took part in the webinar “Mapping the Data Center Industry: Who Benefits, Who Calls the Shots, and What to Do About It,” which the AI Now Institute hosted. The conversation examined the industry players driving data-center development and delved into findings from the report Policy Interventions to Stop Rampant Data Center Expansion, which Jenna contributed to. Watch the webinar.
• Jenna presented her research on the financing of the data-center industry during the webinar “Fighting Back: the Corporations Behind Data Centers.” The conversation, which Third Act hosted, explored how the lack of oversight is enriching the technocrats who are undermining our democracy.
• Cristina Escobar moderated the discussion “Media Merger Madness: How to Stop the Right’s Movie and TV Takeover” at the Netroots conference in Philadelphia. Craig Aaron took part in the panel, which examined both the Nexstar-Tegna merger — which would create a local-broadcasting giant reaching 80 percent of U.S. households — and the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery deal, which would give a family of Trump-friendly billionaires control over CBS, CNN, HBO, TikTok and many other media properties. Read Cristina’s blog post to learn more about the discussion and the risks these mergers pose. 
• Vanessa Maria Graber and Eric Thurm visited the Pennsylvania statehouse to advocate for the Local News Package. The package contains two bills: One would create a state-backed fellowship program to place early- and mid-career journalists in community newsrooms across Pennsylvania. The other would create a Pennsylvania Civic Information Consortium to invest in local reporting projects. Vanessa Maria and Eric briefed members of the Legislative Latino Caucus and the Welcoming PA Caucus about the legislation.
• At the INN Days conference, Mike Rispoli introduced Rep. Chris Rabb, the lead sponsor of the Pennsylvania Local News Package, for a plenary conversation with INN CEO Karen Rundlet. Eric led a briefing on the legislation and considered the role that media leaders can play in ensuring its passage. Read Eric’s blog post to learn more.
• Mike moderated the Media Policy Collaborative webinar “New Horizons for Publicly Funded Media: Building a Civic-Information Infrastructure,” which Free Press, the Future Film Coalition, the Institute for Nonprofit News, LION Publishers and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters co-hosted. The  conversation delved into the movement to build a new kind of public media — one that prioritizes community needs — in the wake of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s closure. Learn more about the webinar.
• Vanessa Maria won an Alliance for Community Media Hometown Media Award for the Best Coverage of Community Events — Activism/Rallies in the Community Radio category. Vanessa Maria received the award for her coverage of the protest to stop cuts to Pennsylvania’s SEPTA, one of the largest public-transit systems in the country.
• Vanessa Maria took part in the panel discussion “Coalition Building for Maximum Impact: Leveraging Strategic Partnerships” at the Alliance for Community Media Annual Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. The conversation explored how community-media organizations, nonprofits and local leaders can build partnerships that create positive change at the local level.
• Free Press partnered with cinéSPEAK — a Philadelphia-based arthouse cinema — for the Under the Stars Film Festival screening of Steal This Story, Please!, a documentary about Democracy Now! co-host Amy Goodman. Vanessa Maria delivered remarks at the event.
• Arin Anderson led a strategy roundtable in Madison, Wisconsin, with local newsroom leaders, community-media advocates and civic allies. Craig and Vanessa Maria took part in the conversation, which focused on building a plan to strengthen local news and better inform local communities around the state. Arin plans to host community-listening sessions to ensure that any legislative agenda has input from residents and other local stakeholders.
• Free Press hosted a webinar to kick off the Solidarity Over Surveillance campaign, which is organizing communities to push back against corporate and government spying. Free Press and the Disinfo Defense League lead the initiative, and a broad coalition of grassroots, civil-rights and press-freedom groups serve as partners. Nora Benavidez moderated the webinar, which Amanda Beckham and other experts took part in. The conversation examined how all-encompassing the surveillance state is — and how it disproportionately impacts Black, Brown and Muslim communities. Learn more about the discussion.
• Free Press hosted three Disco Techs as part of the Solidarity Over Surveillance campaign. Raelyn Roberson helped organize these community salons. In Atlanta, Free Press supported the Sandbox ATL hackerspace on an event that featured discussions about ways both individuals and communities can counter surveillance. Free Press provided story-collection forms and resources for follow-up actions. Nora and Ruth Livier staffed a Disco Tech table at two World Cup watch parties at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. They collected testimonies from people sharing their feelings about surveillance.
• Nora took part in the panel discussion “A More Just AI Future: How Philanthropy Can Shape AI to Serve Latine Communities” at the Hispanics in Philanthropy conference. She discussed the Solidarity Over Surveillance campaign and Free Press’ longer-term work on AI and digital civil rights. 
• Nora led the closing session for the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas’ fellowship program. She discussed AI governance and the future of platform accountability.
• Julio Ricardo Varela moderated the panel discussion “Media Pipeline & Training: Inside the Industry” at the Future of Media Symposium in Washington, D.C. This interactive workshop gave congressional communications professionals practical tools and advice to navigate the evolving media landscape.