Free Press

Long-term goals:

1. Internet Freedom: An Uncensored and Open Internet Everywhere
The internet is now the primary engine of commercial, cultural, democratic, economic and educational innovation and exchange. It is also the foremost battleground for free speech in the 21st century. Yet internet users' rights to free expression, communication and privacy are under constant attack.

Most people in the United States have little or no choice for high-speed internet service, and many are stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide. The lack of affordable options for high-speed internet is the primary obstacle to universal access in the United States. Americans are paying twice as much for service that is half the speed typically available throughout the developed world.

Free Press' aim is to promote policies that protect and expand the internet's free and open architecture; enable everyone to get online; and safeguard our fundamental rights and freedoms.

2. Platform Accountability

Platform companies profit from collecting vast quantities of data, which they’ve used along with ad-targeting tools and algorithms to discriminate against people based on their race, gender and other identities. Hate groups are using online platforms to funnel resources, spread propaganda and organize, leading to targeted harassment and violence. Free Press pushes tech companies to do more to protect the civil rights of targeted communities; reduce the spread of online hate; and address how their business model harms vulnerable communities, local news and fair elections.

3. Journalism's Future: Serving Communities and Protecting Press Freedom

Free Press seeks ways to sustain and improve journalism so that it can better hold the powerful accountable, uncover the truth and respond to community needs.

A healthy media system is characterized in part by the diversity of owners, perspectives and sources of news, information and cultural fare available to the public. Too often the thing missing from debates over journalism's future has been the public, the very people journalism is supposed to serve. This is especially true for communities of color and others that are too often misrepresented and aren't media owners. Free Press aims to build an active and sustainable community that supports quality journalism at the local level and includes voices that historically have been excluded.

Through our News Voices projects in multiple states, we're engaging communities and newsrooms in two-way conversation, using this dialogue to inspire collaborative local news projects. We're also launching advocacy efforts on the state and local level to push novel and innovative ways of funding local journalism and community media. Free Press also continues to work to protect press freedom while simultaneously holding the media accountable for dishonest, false and racist coverage.

To elevate public participation in U.S. media and technology policymaking and to advance equitable media and technology policies in the public interest, Free Press pursues the following core strategies:

Establish the legal and intellectual arguments for public interest policy.

Free Press' in-depth research and independent analysis expose threats to a trustworthy and inclusive media system, rebut industry propaganda, focus on the needs of the most-impacted communities, and explore new media models. Each year, we file extensive public comments with the Federal Communications Commission, argue in court, and testify in Congress. Free Press acts as a watchdog on policymakers, media and technology companies, industry lobbyists and the press.

Build people power outside and inside Washington.

Free Press amplifies the public's voice and clout in crucial policy decisions to counteract the undue influence of powerful corporations and compromised politicians. We work to build reliable public-interest champions at the FCC, in other key federal posts, and in states and local communities. To create lasting change and meet our goals for an equitable media system, we're committed to coalition building, network coordination and deepening our relationships with allies within and beyond our field.

Educate and mobilize the public to fight for change.

Free Press uses a range of communications, public education and popular engagement strategies to frame policy debates, elevate the voices of people of color and others disparately impacted by media policies and practices, and inspire people to take action online and off. We use innovative digital and organizing strategies to run our campaigns and activate our base of 1.4 million people. We shape the public narrative, earning more than 3,000 quotations and mentions in the press each year.

Structure: Free Press is a 501(c)(3) organization that uses research, advocacy and organizing to create policy changes in the public interest. With a base of 1.4 million activists, Free Press brings the public's powerful voice to media policy debates.

Free Press' educational and organizing activities are bolstered and complemented by the work of the Free Press Action Fund, our 501(c)(4) companion organization, through which we meet with elected representatives and lobby Congress and the White House.

Free Press has offices in Florence, Mass., and Washington, D.C., as well as staff working in eight other states. We currently have 36 staff members. Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund are independent, interrelated and autonomous organizations governed by separate and overlapping boards of directors.

Finances: Free Press has from its inception chosen not to accept money from business, government or political parties. We are supported solely by individuals, private foundations and public charities. We are currently supported by more than 100 sources ranging from $1 online donors to $750,000 foundation grants.

Contribution to the Fight for Better Media: At its best, Free Press is the leader in the fight for people's rights to connect and communicate, setting the agenda, convening key allies, and informing the public about the most pressing issues. We take a big-tent approach that strategically engages many other international, national and local organizations focused on narrower issues.

Free Press is a leading resource on media and technology issues for a broad range of groups, as well as for members of Congress, the FCC and the press. We offer both policy and organizing expertise to allied groups. Building and leading coalitions in partnership with allies both outside and inside the Beltway is a key element of Free Press' strategy for achieving change. Our aim is to include as many voices as possible in advocating for the change we seek. Free Press works diligently to support and encourage groups with unique and diverse capacities to join together — whether in long-term coalitions or short-term actions.

Free Press is adept at several roles — leader, supporter, and capacity builder — and we employ those roles strategically in service of our long-term goals and the needs of partnering organizations. And to more closely link our issues with other causes, Free Press works with an array of major public interest groups to alert and educate their activists about key media and internet issues.

In 2003, Free Press joined a movement at its nascent phase. Initially we focused on building the visibility and legitimacy of media reform issues. Since then, we've built a base of more than 1.4 million people engaged in the fight for our rights to connect and communicate. And we've won significant victories -- securing strong Net Neutrality protections and privacy at the FCC, defeating harmful media mega mergers and saving public media funding time and again. Through a combination of online and in-person action-taking, we are continuing to develop a better understanding of how to maximize and expand this power.

Our analysis is continuing to evolve. We recognize that structural racism in the media system and the lack of inclusion in the media and technology policymaking process are real barriers to having a media system that works for everyone, particularly communities of color that have gone underserved for so long. To address this, Free Press is prioritizing racial equity, elevating diverse voices and leadership in policymaking, building strong coalitions, and bringing the people who are most impacted into policy debates.