Welcome to the February 2024 edition of the Free Press Update, our newsletter recapping as much of our work from the last month as we can fit into one email. Let’s get into it:

We Stopped Congress from Extending Domestic Spying … for Now

Last week, leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives canceled plans to hold a floor vote to extend controversial surveillance powers under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Agencies like the NSA and the FBI have abused Section 702 to conduct warrantless surveillance that violates the civil liberties of people in the United States and abroad.

Parts of the debate over the controversial bill were reportedly going to take place during a secret session of the House, something Congress has undertaken only four times since 1810. But thanks to a coalition of groups — including Free Press Action! — that sent thousands of constituent phone calls and petitions calling on lawmakers to vote “no,” we stopped this surveillance bill in its tracks. Read the press release!

New Bills Could Transform Local Journalism in Wisconsin

Local journalism is shrinking and disappearing in states across the country, and Wisconsin is no exception. The state has lost roughly 30 percent of its newspapers since 2004, and total circulation has declined by approximately 40 percent — creating news deserts that are a threat to Wisconsin’s democracy and civic health.

But new bills before the Wisconsin state legislature bring hope, and Free Press Action is working hard to support these exciting and much-needed measures. Learn more on the Free Press blog.

The Affordable Connectivity Program Needs Your Help!

Nearly 23-million households depend on the Affordable Connectivity Program to stay connected to high-speed internet. But the program has proven so popular that it’s slated to run out of funding in April. It’s unthinkable to contemplate so many people losing access to an essential utility.

But there’s hope: A new bill with bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress would invest $7 billion to keep the Affordable Connectivity Program going strong through 2024 until permanent funding can be secured. Will you make a call to your lawmakers in Congress to help keep people in your community online? These calls are very effective — and to make it easy, we’ve provided a sample script for you to use:

Transforming Crime Coverage

Since starting at Free Press in 2022, Cassie Owens has steeped herself in the work of transforming media coverage of trauma, safety, crime and criminal justice in her native Philadelphia.

As the News Voices: Philadelphia program manager, Cassie has helped lead efforts to dismantle structural racism at local news outlets and imagine a new kind of reporting, one that centers community members’ voices and information needs.

Free Press Editor Amy Kroin caught up with Cassie to reflect on her powerful and all-too-necessary work. Check it out on the blog:

A View from the Field

Check out the latest updates from the field as Free Press and Free Press Action staffers work alongside our amazing allies and activists to create a more just and equitable media system. Below are just a few snippets from our latest View from the Field blog — you can read the entire post!

• Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights Nora Benavidez spoke at the White House at an event the Kids Online Health and Safety Task Force hosted. The event explored a range of topics, including the risks that large-scale personal-data collection pose and the need to balance the harms of social media with the value of building online communities.
• News Voices: Philadelphia Program Manager Cassie Owens presented at the Radio Television Digital News Association’s Crime Coverage Summit. She discussed race, the criminal-legal system and the media during a discussion with veteran Associated Press reporter Gary Fields. “While we as journalists often think of our work as neutral,” Cassie said, “the evidence is showing that the impacts on the communities and on the people in the stories are not actually neutral.”
• Reparative Journalism Program Manager Diamond Hardiman, Senior Advisor of Reparative Policy and Programs Joseph Torres and Media 2070 Campaign Manager Venneikia Williams organized and took part in Media 2070’s first press briefing of the year. The discussion explored ways to build systems that repair harm in journalism. Watch the briefing.
• Journalism Program Manager Alex Frandsen took part in a press conference in Wisconsin that introduced three bills designed to promote local news and civic information. “With an average of two local newspapers across the country shutting down every single week, the destruction of local news is real and ongoing,” Alex said. “ … We desperately need public policies that can chart a new path forward, including those that provide local, state and federal funding for news outlets.”

The Free Press Feed

Check out our brand-spankin’-new newsletter feature of Free Press content on social media! Stay in the loop by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X and TikTok!

• On Instagram last month, we honored the real legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — not the sanitized, watered-down legacy. Watch our reel.
• On TikTok, Senior Director of Journalism and Civic Information Mike Rispoli stitched together a response to Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz’s TikTok post on how the journalism industry is in free fall. Watch his explanation and historical analysis!
• Have you tuned in to our IG Live series with Multimedia Communications Manager Imani Oakley? If you haven’t, you’re missing out — but you can always replay the video on Instagram! Check out Imani’s conversations with Nora Benavidez on AI and democracy and with Diamond Hardiman on media reparations.

Thank you for reading! The info here represents only a small fraction of what Free Press and Free Press Action are doing every day to fight for your rights to connect and communicate. With so many urgent fights on the horizon as we kick off 2024, will you consider making a gift today? We rely on contributions from grassroots donors like you because we don't take a cent from business, government or political parties.

Thank you for everything you do to help power our movement,

All of us at Free Press and Free Press Action
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