Journalism is a public good.
That's the basic premise of a 12-page policy roadmap released Tuesday by Free Press Action, the 501(c)(4) arm of the advocacy group Free Press, and created by members of Media Power Collaborative, an organizing space for media workers and others, which aims to resist journalism's trend towards clickbait, misinformation, and "a shortage of local news that actually meet people's needs."
Instead, the document envisions a transformed media system that enjoys robust public funding and guardrails that safeguard editorial independence. What's needed is a "media system in which the needs of the working and middle classes are valued over corporate profits and the interests of billionaires," according to the authors of the blueprint, which has been endorsed by organizations like the worker-led nonprofit outlet 51st, the National Writers Union, the progressive group Common Cause, and other entities.
So how do we get there? The Media Power Collective outlines a number of actions leaders and policymakers can take that are grouped into categories such as prioritizing "community information needs" and investing in "community-first models to democratize media power."
Under the "community-first models to democratize media power" goal, for example, the blueprint calls for actions like dedicating public subsidies—grants, tax credits, and vouchers—to nonprofit media, public media, community media, BIPOC media, and worker-owned media. If public funding is going to go to commercial outlets, it should be tied to "community-positive factors," like commitments to union neutrality, per the blueprint.
Other actions span a wide range of issues, like halting anti-competitive mergers that impact the media industry, promoting media literacy at the high school level, supporting community colleges as hubs for community information and journalism, and more.
Mike Rispoli, Free Press Action's senior director of journalism and civic information, in a statement Tuesday that "now more than ever, we need to build public support for an independent press that holds power to account and helps people make sense of an increasingly chaotic world around them."
"We're seeing the real consequences of the decades-long collapse of local commercial media: Misinformation is filling the public's news feeds, important government meetings are happening without coverage, and people can't find basic information about what's happening in their neighborhoods," he added.
Neither Free Press Action's statement or the blueprint mentions U.S. President Donald Trump or the conservative policy document Project 2025 by name, but on social media Free Press Action connected the document to the current White House's attacks on press freedom.
"This may feel like a difficult time to call for bold policy change. The new administration is applying pressure to independent journalism, and public media funding will come under attack in the coming months," wrote the group on Bluesky on Tuesday. "Yet, this is also a moment of immense opportunity."
Since his second administration began, Trump has signaled his commitment to continuing his long-running feud with the news media.
In January, the Republican Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced an investigation into the outlets NPR and PBS that could lead to stripping them of government funding. And in a break with precedent, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday that the administration will now decide which outlets get to participate in the presidential press pool.
