Welcome to the June 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:

New Free Press Poll: Election Misinformation Is a Real Concern

Have you ever skipped a local election because you couldn’t find any news about the candidates or ballot questions?

If so, you’re not alone. According to a nationwide poll that Free Press commissioned, only 28 percent of all adults say they feel “very well informed” when voting in local elections. The numbers are even lower for Latino and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Learn more about this important poll — and what we can do about its findings.

A Breath of Remembrance on Juneteenth

Image: Courtney Morrison

June 19 marked Juneteenth — a celebration of Black liberation, but also a moment for remembrance.

Journalism has a long history of alternately misrepresenting freedom movements as forms of terrorism, ignoring them or underreporting them. Free Press’ Media 2070 project is attempting to repair those wrongs through our reparative journalism work. Read Reparative Journalism Program Manager Diamond Hardiman’s case for embracing the power of storytelling on Juneteenth (and every day).

Tell Senate Leadership: Advance the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act ASAP

Last month, we asked you to add your name to our petition demanding that the Senate pass the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FAINFSA), which would close a loophole that allows law-enforcement agencies to purchase location-tracking data on people all over the United States without a warrant.

This month, we’re taking it one step further: We’re demanding that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin do everything in their power to advance and pass FAINFSA, which the House has already passed. If you haven’t already, will you add your name to this urgent petition today?

Free Press Action’s 2024 Media and Technology Policy Platform

Free Press Action released its 2024 Media and Technology Policy Platform to provide a guide for candidates and policymakers seeking to uphold their constituents’ rights to connect and communicate.

A significant and bipartisan majority of Americans want to make sure their communications and internet activity are private, and do not want to see discrimination or intentionally false information online. This policy platform is a guide for candidates and policymakers seeking to uphold their constituents’ rights to connect and communicate.

A View from the Field

Free Press’ Vanessa Maria Graber (left) and Cassie Owens (right) with DayOneNotDayTwo Executive Director Andre Simms

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 snippets from our latest View from the Field blog — you can read the entire post here!

• Free Press Action presented the webinar “Data and Dissent: Protest Rights and Press Freedom Under Surveillance,” which Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights Nora Benavidez moderated and Policy Counsel Jenna Ruddock took part in as a panelist. The discussion explored the state of protest rights and press freedom on university campuses. Watch the conversation here.
• News Voices Director Vanessa Maria Graber and News Voices: Philadelphia Program Manager Cassie Owens took part in the event “Youth Justice, Media Narratives & Philadelphia,” which DayOneNotDayTwo and Zealous hosted. Cassie gave a presentation about media harm and set up an activation station where she and Vanessa Maria engaged community members in conversations about care and media harm.
• Media 2070 Campaign Manager Venneikia Williams hosted Media 2070’s quarterly membership meeting, where Reparative Journalism Program Manager Diamond Hardiman shared two videos she co-created for the Reparative Journalism series. The first video explored the journalism industry’s violent history of harming Black communities and other communities of color, and the second examined what journalists can learn from global movements responding to centuries of violence, theft and oppression. Senior Advisor of Reparative Policy and Programs Joseph Torres took part in the gathering.

The Free Press Feed

Are you connected with Free Press on social media? If not, we’ve featured some posts from the past month below — but be sure to stay in the loop by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X and TikTok!

• On Facebook, our followers were some of the first to know about our new public-opinion poll on media and tech ahead of the 2024 elections. Check it out.
• On Instagram, we broke down why the First Amendment stakes are so high at the Supreme Court this year. Learn more.
• On TikTok, we reshared our Co-CEO Craig Aaron’s powerful testimony before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee seeking evidence of so-called "left-wing bias" at NPR. Watch.
• And finally on Twitter/X, we featured a Columbia Journalism Review piece on how our divisive politics have broken content moderation as we know it. Our very own Nora Benavidez provided a quote. Read it now.

Thank you for reading! The info here represents only a tiny 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 crucial fights on the horizon — such as urging tech platforms to do more to combat election disinformation and calling on Congress to stop government surveillance — your support couldn’t come at a better time, friend. Will you make 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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