ClassACT HR73 Freedom of the Press ClassACTion Alerts

Alert 3: Act Now to Support Non-Profit Local Journalism

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 16:01:35 GMT

As traditional news outlets dry up across America, non-profit local newsrooms still provide communities in both red and blue states with essential coverage of their lawmakers, schools, and neighbors. Many national newspapers and networks cower before the growing threats to their independence, but journalists in these scrappy independent newsrooms take on ICE, tech titans, and unscrupulous governors in reporting that has won at least one Pulitzer Prize. These local news sites can rebuild the bonds among readers who hold dissimilar political beliefs – and strengthen communal ties that are frayed by a dearth of coverage of shared problems, such as food scarcity, hospital closures and environmental destruction.

As members of the ClassACT HR73 Justice and Civic Engagement Committee, we ask you to join us in supporting these non-profit local news outlets. They give citizens across the country a voice to speak about the local and national challenges they face. These innovative organizations for reporting and publishing local news join mainstream newspapers and broadcast outlets, such as NPR stations, in the fight to keep democracy alive.

CALLS TO ACTION:

Find non-profit news sites that covers your state and community. Regularly read their articles and share them on social media. You can use these links to search for the newsrooms nearest you:
- Find Your News
- States Newsroom

Become a member of these newsrooms or subscribe to one. If your community or city is fortunate enough still to have a local newspaper, subscribe to it.

If you have journalistic experience, volunteer to help train young journalists and provide advice to local non-profit newsrooms.

If you have experience in building businesses or non-profits, volunteer to help these news outlets develop strategic plans or become financially stable.

Continue to support your local NPR and PBS stations because they are often the sole source of local news coverage in many communities, particularly in rural areas.

Support organizations such as Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press that advocate for journalists who work in both small-town newsrooms and international news bureaus.

Call your House Representative and Senator to request that they sign on to the Local Journalism Sustainability Act (H.R. 4514)

Here is a link to the telephone numbers of House of Representative members
Here is a link to the phone numbers of all one hundred U.S. Senators

BACKGROUND

How many News Outlets Are Near You?

Map: Medill Local News InitiativeSource: Local News Initiative Database

Over the last decade the demise of more than 3,500 local newspapers has left countless towns bereft of news about the key institutions and leaders that shape their members’ lives. Almost 200 counties nationwide no longer have newspapers. The number of journalists employed by newspapers has shrunk by more than 75 percent since 2005.

Congress’ defunding of National Public Radio this year and the increasing acquisitions of privately owned radio and television stations by big conglomerates stifle independent journalistic voices even more.

To fill this vacuum, journalists, many of them veterans of shuttered newspapers, and philanthropists have established non-profit digital news sites across the country. These outlets such as the Gothamist in New York City ferret out the stories that the biggest papers in the largest cities often miss or neglect.

Sometimes these social enterprises take the place of a newspaper that has closed, as when residents in Harpswell, Maine banded together to start the Harpswell Anchor in 2020. As big city dailies slash their statehouse coverage, many non-profits like the Texas Tribune keep unflinching eyes on state governments to ensure that citizens know what governors, lawmakers and regulators are doing.

New York Focus Statewide Community Listening Tour

The reporters and editors at these feisty enterprises are often young and idealistic, eager to investigate the corruption and neglect that are often overlooked otherwise as America’s “news desert” widens. One of the most successful ventures is New York Focus whose founders recognized the need for in-depth coverage of the power and resources that New York’s state government in Albany wields. The investigations pursued by the New York Focus team haver inspired legislation to curb sexual violence in New York state prisons as well as the abuses that often surround foreclosure sales.

Other non-profit news sites have stepped up to continue investigative reporting, when many established papers lack the resources for in-depth examinations. Mississippi Today won a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting in 2023 when reporter Anna Wolfe exposed the scandal of $77 million in state welfare funds being misappropriated or stolen. This past May the ground-breaking non-profit ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, its eighth Pulitzer, for reporting on the consequences of delayed care for pregnant mothers because of stricter abortion laws.

Along with traditional beats like health care, education and the environment, non-profit news sources like CalMatters have widened their focus to examine the consequences of exploding technological change. CalMatters has looked at the actions of ICE in Los Angeles as well as at the state’s failure to curb the increase in deaths on California’s highways.

Reporters and editors at the Sacramento-based publication have won national awards for a series on the fight against fentanyl as well as state awards for a project on California’s water crisis. This year CalMatters received First Place, General Excellence, Medium-Sized Newsroom from the Online News Association, beating out powerhouses like Mother Jones.

Essential to realizing the potential of non-profit news sites are other non-profits that help local journalists set up an operation and then guide them through the stages of growth. Often these mentor non-profits also provide the financial subsidies essential to launch new outlets and keep established ones afloat. The best known of these organizations include the Institute for Non-profit News with more than 500 newsrooms in its network, and American Journalism Project, a venture philanthropy that invests in and builds digital non-profit newsrooms. Other creative non-profits are Rebuild Local News, which promotes local news public policies at the state and local level, and Report for America, which places reporters in newsrooms to cover issues that otherwise might be overlooked.

During the last five years House members on both sides of the aisle have introduced the Local Journalism Sustainability Act. This bill proposes an individual tax credit for local newspaper subscriptions, payroll credit for compensating journalists, and tax credits for small businesses that advertise in local news outlets. Rep. John Mannion (D-NY) reintroduced the bill again in July and referred it to the House Ways and Means Committee for action in the current Congress.

State officials and lawmakers have also pushed to relieve the financial burdens on local news outlets by adopting similar tax credit legislation or establishing innovative programs like New York’s Newspaper and Media Jobs Program, which allocates $90 million to retain and hire journalists. In June California expanded its original $22 million funding for its Local News Fellowship Program to place journalists in newsrooms across the state.

As billionaire owners of national media increasingly shape coverage to reflect their own ideological and financial preferences, rebuilding local news through both traditional and digital non-profit outlets matters. Flourishing local news organizations offer a means to keep fair, independent and objective voices alive and to restore trust in the press. Non-profit newsrooms grounded in the communities they serve help us all dodge the encroachment of unmoored algorithms that too often have the power to determine what we read and how we think.

*Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker at 100, Directed by Marshall Curry, Netflix, 2025, streaming video.

OTHER RESOURCES + OPINIONS

“$48 Million in Support of Local News, Initial Seeding of Press Forward Collaborative,” MacArthur Foundation, December 18, 2023

“Considering Supporting Local News as a ‘Public Good’? Here’s the Whole Story” Knight Foundation

“Local Journalism: Innovative Business Approaches and Targeted Policies May Help Local News Media Adapt to Digital Transformation”, General Accounting Office, January 2023

“Local News Has Long Provided a Vital Civic Bond. Can We Afford to Let It Disappear?” Harvard Kennedy School, Summer 2023

“Non-profit News is Growing Strong, Especially Local Non-Profit News, a New Study Shows,” Nieman Lab, October 8, 2025

“Philanthropy and Local Opinion Journalism: A Civic Opportunity,” American Press Institute, September 5, 2024

“Why Local News Matters, and What We Can Do to Save It,” New York State Bar Association, November 1, 2019

December, 2025

Alert 2: Act Now to Support American Journalists Facing Threats to Their Safety

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 18:39:24 GMT

As public outrage mounts over ICE’s actions and the deployment of the US military to Los Angeles, observers have been shocked by the numerous assaults on journalists attempting to cover these protests. The reporters, photographers and camera crew injured by plastic bullets and foam projectiles in LA this past June were simply exercising their First Amendment right as members of the press. Trying to silence them by physical force or intimidation poses a threat to the fundamental liberties upon which we all rely.

We of the ClassACT HR73 Justice & Civic Engagement Committee ask you to join us in supporting efforts to preserve the safety of journalists on the streets of America as well as their right to document this critical moment in our nation’s history.

CALLS TO ACTION:

To stand in solidarity with journalists who are reporting on this tumultuous period despite threats to their own safety, we of ClassACT HR73’s Justice and Civic Engagement Group urge you to consider taking the following actions:

Support one of the non-profits that advocate for journalists and for freedom of the press. These groups include PEN America, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

If you are a media lawyer interested in pro bono representation of journalists or news organizations, volunteer with an organization like Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press or the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice

Ask your representatives and senators in Washington to make sure that the constitutional and state protections that exist for journalists are respected and strengthened.
- Here is a link to the telephone numbers of House of Representative members
- Here is a link to the phone numbers of all one hundred U.S. Senators

Spread the word about assaults on journalists and other threats to freedom of the press by forwarding this ClassACTion alert to five or more people and/or post it on your social media platform.

BACKGROUND:

More than two dozen journalists were injured or roughed up while covering the LA demonstrations that began June 6 to protest the immigration raids launched by ICE agents. The protests grew after June 7, when President Trump authorized the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s refusal to approve that decision. As the protests swelled, reaching an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 by June 14, Trump sent 700 Marines—federal troops—to the scene on June 9.

While most of the demonstrations were reported to be peaceful, a minority of protesters engaged in violent clashes. During the June 6 protests near LA’s federal buildings, some protesters threw objects at local police officers, who responded by dispersing tear gas and using their batons. Journalists from local stations and newspapers, national media, and foreign broadcast companies were on the scene to report on the escalating confrontation.

“In this country, for the most part, journalism and journalists have been respected,” said Mekahlo Medina, an anchor and reporter for NBC4News in Los Angeles. His crew was hit during the demonstrations with pellet projectiles, even though they wore vests that were clearly marked “Press.” “It’s part of our constitution – freedom of the press. It’s embedded in who we are every day from day one. The government is trying to keep us [journalists] from doing our job. I think it should be a red flag for a lot of people.”

Over the next six days as many as 35 journalists were hit by rubber bullets and other projectiles or by pepper spray fired by local and federal officers attempting to disperse the crowds, according to the Los Angeles Press Club. Human Rights Watch, the global non-profit that investigates human rights abuses, later wrote that their investigators “documented 39 cases of journalists injured by law enforcement, most of whom were holding cameras and wearing visible press credentials. Several appear to have been deliberately targeted.”

In response, organizations such as PEN America that advocate for the rights of the press have condemned these strikes against journalists. PEN America, along with 28 other organizations such as the Freedom of the Press Foundation, signed a June 9 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urging her to make sure that federal forces “refrain from any unlawful, indiscriminate, and excessive use of force against members of the press and public.” The letter stated that “In some cases, federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news.”

Some of the most high-profile incidents that sparked international coverage and condemnation include:

Australian TV journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while holding a microphone. The video circulated widely.
New York Post photographer Toby Canham, who was hit on the forehead with a less-than-lethal projectile, went to the ER with whiplash and neck pain.
After British photojournalist Nick Stern was hit in the thigh with a less-than-lethal bullet, he received surgery at a Long Beach hospital.

Press advocacy groups and some political and cultural observers see these recent assaults as an escalation of attacks on journalists across the globe as well as here at home. For the press in the United States, the worst years were 2020 and 2021 during the protests against George Floyd’s murder. Nearly 800 assaults occurred during that period, according to the US Press Freedom Tracker. However, “more than 90 assaults of journalists we’ve documented so far in 2025 represent the third highest annual number in our data base – and the year isn’t even over,” compilers of the Tracker concluded.

The international watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranks the United States 57th out of 180 countries on its World Press Freedom Index for 2025, down two places from the previous year. That score earns the US a rating of “problematic” based on such criteria as political context, legal framework and safety. RSF joined 24 other press organizations last June 11 to send a letter to the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Sherriff’s Department protesting the assaults on Tomasi and Canham.

“The wave of violence against journalists on the streets of Los Angeles this weekend is unacceptable. These protests are a matter of huge public interest and the public has a right to know exactly what’s going on. The only way that can happen is if journalists are allowed to do their jobs freely,” Clayton Weimers, the Executive Director of RSF USA said in a statement.

“This is inherently dangerous work, but it’s made more dangerous by authorities who are unable or unwilling to distinguish press from protestors, and by private actors who attack members of the media. Authorities in LA must do more to ensure press freedom is respected during these protests.”

In response to the attacks, the Los Angeles Press Club filed a lawsuit in US District Court against the LA Police Department. The advocacy organization documented 35 instances when police launched projectiles, tear gas and other forms of coercion against journalists or kept them entering from public areas. On July 11 Judge Hernán D. Vera issued a temporary restraining order telling the department to cease its use of foam projectiles, tear gas and flash-bang devices. The plaintiffs are currently seeking a permanent order.

These pleas for protecting journalists and the First Amendment have been voiced by organizations with a longstanding reputation for promoting freedom and democracy across the globe. Freedom House, which has tracked threats to democracy and human rights since 1941, has argued:

A free and independent media sector that can keep the population informed and hold leaders to account is as crucial for a strong and sustainable democracy as free and fair elections. Without it, citizens cannot make informed decisions about how they are ruled, and abuse of power, which is all but inevitable in any society, cannot be exposed and corrected.

OTHER RESOURCES + OPINIONS:

“‘Get ready’: LA journalists warn of potential violence against press ahead of nationwide protests,” Committee to Protect Journalists, June 13, 2025

“Journalists Come Under Fire Covering L.A. Protests,” Washington Post, June 10, 2025

“Judge Orders Los Angeles Police to Stop Shooting Projectiles at Journalists,” New York Times, July 11, 2025

“PEN America Condemns Attacks on Journalists Covering Los Angeles Protests,” PEN America, June 9, 2025

“Police, Protesters, and the Press,” Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

“US: Excessive Force Against LA Protesters,” Human Rights Watch, August 18, 2025

“U.S. Press Freedom Tracker,” Freedom of the Press Foundation, 2025

“USA: RSF condemns wave of violence against journalists covering Los Angeles protests,” Reporters Without Borders, June 11, 2025

“World Press Freedom Continues Decline at a Time of Upheaval,” Council on Foreign Relations, May 2, 2025

September, 2025

Alert 1: Saving National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System

Mon, 05 May 2025 18:16:56 GMT

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This month we issued our opening ClassACTion Alert, the first of our ongoing alerts about the unfolding threats to the press as well as the ways that we all can stand up for this essential freedom.

We hope to protect National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Services from the proposed elimination of federal funding now before Congress. Losing that money – approximately $535 million last year – would expand the “news desert” across all 50 states. In many rural communities without broadband or cell phone service, radio is the only source of news. The Department of Education abruptly cancelled the grant for PBS’s Ready to Learn programming. This loss of federal funds directly affects the Emmy- award-winning PBS children’s shows that have prepared generations of American children for elementary school.

The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 gave birth to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, and NPR. Over the past 11 Presidential terms, representing both Democratic and Republican presidents, the now 1350 PBS and NPR stations have provided equal and free access to educational, cultural, news and children’s programming to each and every viewer and listener. PBS and NPR are non-profit membership organizations. Each station is independently owned and operated, and makes national and local programming decisions that best serve their local audiences.

We are asking you to contact your representative and senator in Washington ASAP to ask them to vote against this proposal to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that allocates federal funds to NPR and PBS stations in both red and blue states across the nation.

Here is a link to the telephone numbers of the House of Representative members.

Here is a link to the phone numbers of all one hundred U.S. Senators.

ClassACT HR73 Freedom of the Press ClassACTion Alerts

Alert 3: Act Now to Support Non-Profit Local Journalism

Table of Contents:

CALLS TO ACTION:

BACKGROUND

OTHER RESOURCES + OPINIONS

Alert 2: Act Now to Support American Journalists Facing Threats to Their Safety

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

“Freedom of the press is perhaps the freedom that has suffered the most from the gradual degradation of the idea of liberty.”

– Albert Camus

CALLS TO ACTION:

BACKGROUND:

OTHER RESOURCES + OPINIONS:

Alert 1: Saving National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System