Let’s shore up funding for local news
AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file
The abysmal financial state of the news media industry poses a severe threat to the free press.
The financial collapse of the traditional news media has caused mass layoffs of journalists and the shuttering of many local news outlets. Unless these financial headwinds are reversed, journalism may disappear entirely in many communities across the United States.
We must fight back against government attempts to control or censor the news using financial pressure. Instead, governments should be focused on creating solutions to the news funding crisis that increase revenue for news outlets without subjecting them to government influence or control.
Featured Items
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Music industry forces widely used journalist tool offline
The popular free software project “youtube-dl” was removed from Github on Friday following a legal notice from the Recording Industry Association of America claiming it violates copyright law. The tool is widely used by journalists for various reporting purposes.
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In support of Black lives matter
Freedom of the Press Foundation believes Black lives matter, and we support the efforts of activists and protesters exercising their First Amendment rights to take a stand against police brutality.
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How’s newsgathering during COVID-19 at the state level? Depends on the governor.
Journalists covering state responses to the coronavirus pandemic are hampered as officials reduce seating in briefing rooms, introduce unreliable technology and, in some cases, refuse real-time questions.
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Back on the campaign trail, President Trump increases his anti-press tweet offensive
From Jan. 20, 2019 to Jan. 19, 2020, Trump tweeted negatively about the media 548 times — almost as many as his first two years in office combined.
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Preserving threatened archives for Splinter and Deadspin writers
We've created tools to automate the backup of dozens of former Splinter and Deadspin writers' portfolios.
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Trump opens reelection campaign week with escalating rhetoric against the media
The same week that President Donald Trump traveled to Orlando, Florida, to announce his bid for reelection, his escalating negative rhetoric against the media reached an all-time high.
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Copyright lawsuit over Trump photo use is a press freedom fight, too
In a decision that could have dangerous reverberations for press freedom, a federal district judge ruled last week that Esquire violated a copyright held by a Deutsche Bank vice president when it published his photo of Donald Trump crashing a stranger’s wedding at his New Jersey club.
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Join us in fighting back against powerful corporations trying to silence news and advocacy organizations
SLAPP suits, or “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” are brought by wealthy individuals or organizations in an attempt to silence critical speech. They also have huge implications for press freedom. We're joining a campaign to combat this dangerous tactic.
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Newsrooms fight their owners to save local journalism
Hedge funds like Alden Global Capital are profiting off of decimating local journalism outlets across the country. But newsrooms are fighting back.
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Archiving the alternative press threatened by wealthy buyers
Freedom of the Press Foundation is launching an online archives collection in partnership with Archive-It, a service developed by the Internet Archive to help organizations preserve online content. Our collection, focusing on news outlets we deem to be especially vulnerable to "billionaire problem," aims to preserve sites in their entirety before their archives can be taken down or manipulated.
