Blogs by Author | Free Press

Delivering One Million Petitions Defending Public Media
Josh Stearns
March 15, 2011
Some members of Congress have been spending so much time fretting about what’s going on in the executive offices at NPR that they have lost sight of the local people, local jobs, and local organizations in their districts that depend on public broadcasting. Today we are sending a wake-up call to Capitol Hill.
GOP Senate Bill: Another Attack on Public Broadcasting
Josh Stearns
March 4, 2011
Senators Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced a bill today that would eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This bill joins six other bills taking aim at public broadcasting already introduced in the House. DeMint wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today to make his case, attacking – of all things – CEO salaries at public broadcasting outlets.
Filmmaker Ken Burns Defends PBS
Josh Stearns
February 28, 2011
Revered filmmaker Ken Burns added his voice to the throngs of people defending public broadcasting from funding cuts in Congress.

Burns has been creating documentary films for 30 years, and some of his most notable productions include The Civil War (1990), Baseball (1994), Jazz (2001), The War (2007), and The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009). All of these films were produced with help from PBS.

Burns wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post on Sunday, saying:
House Eliminates Public Broadcasting Funds in 2011 Budget
Josh Stearns
February 19, 2011
Early Saturday morning the House voted to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the institution responsible for distributing federal funds that support 1,300 local public broadcasting stations. The cuts were made as part of a larger budget bill targeting cuts of more than $60 billion in federal funding to numerous public programs. The fight now moves to the Senate.
New Study Finds Investment in Public Media Leads to Better News
Josh Stearns
February 17, 2011
Public media is under attack in Washington, but a new report by Rodney Benson and Matthew Powers of New York University examines how expanding, not cutting, federal funding can actually promote quality, independent journalism.

Public Media and Political Independence: Lessons for the Future of Journalism from Around the World was released Tuesday during a panel discussion that featured several prominent media scholars and journalists.
Members of Congress Join One Million Americans to Take a Stand for Public Media
Josh Stearns
February 16, 2011
Public media isn’t our politicians’ plaything; it’s our nation’s mainstay for crucial news and diverse and alternative programming. And while a few lawmakers are fervently calling to gut funding for public media, many others are bellowing back that we must protect America’s public media.

The House of Representatives’ proposed budget entirely guts funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Members of the House will vote on the budget tomorrow.
Another Attack on New Jersey Media
Josh Stearns
February 3, 2011
After a bruising battle over state funding for the New Jersey Network, the public media system in New Jersey, the state is now facing another assault on independent and non-commercial media. However, this new legislative challenge strikes at the heart of New Jersey's information infrastructure, threatening to eliminate low-cost Internet for schools and libraries, and decimating community access TV.
Access Denied: A Brief History of New Journalism Organizations and Press Credentials
Josh Stearns
January 7, 2011
Nonprofit News and the Comcast/NBC Merger
Josh Stearns
January 4, 2011
Comcast’s promise to support local nonprofit journalism organizations looks good at first glance. These new news startups are filling the gaps left by commercial media, and they need more resources.

But let’s be clear: This gesture is no reason to approve Comcast’s takeover of NBC-Universal.
Journalism and Media Policy in 2011
Josh Stearns
December 31, 2010
The last ten years were tumultuous for media and journalism, with the industry shifting dramatically and new opportunities and challenges emerging. Amidst all this change, the media policies that shape everything we watch, read and hear, have had a hard time catching up.

In a recent cover story in the Columbia Journalism Review, Steve Coll of the New America Foundation wrote: “We badly require new policies and new thinking in Washington because the media policy regime we have inherited is out of date and inadequate for the times in which we live.”

As we enter 2011, a number of pressing policy decisions will confront those of us who care about the future of journalism and media.

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