The nation’s founders recognized that access to news and information was crucial to ensuring a robust republic with an engaged citizenry. To ensure that citizens, including those not privileged or affluent, could keep tabs on their government, they took two crucial steps. First, they established the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as part of the Bill of Rights. Among the five freedoms embedded in the First Amendment is the right to free speech and free press.
Trusted news content is publishers' most valuable intellectual property. It should be paid for, especially by wealthy companies competing for news readers' attention and subscription...
American citizens must understand the existential threat local media outlets are facing — and the incalculable value that their journalism brings to our democracy.
Multiple responses are needed to save what's left of newspapers that provide most local news coverage, even after their newsrooms shrank by 60% since 2008.
It's time to demand broad congressional hearings on abuses of power in the Department of Justice going back years and perhaps decades.
Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for slashing newsrooms, is trying to buy yet another chain of local newspapers. This should invigorate efforts to...
Among the voices speaking out for the importance of the free press is Pope Francis. He recently delivered a remarkable speech on the mission and...
The journalism crisis continues, but there are some bright spots emerging.
The Seattle Times is launching a new Save the Free Press web site. It is intended to inform people about the journalism crisis and efforts...
A Senate decision on the Build Back Better Act, including tax credits for local news outlets, is expected by Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, newspaper chain McClatchy decided...
It took solid investigative reporting to force the Washington State Patrol to change an outdated psychological screening process that rejected applicants of color at an...
