The Trump administration cut 1.1 billion dollars in federal funding from public broadcasting this year. NPR stations across the country are contracting or closing. PBS faces a similar reckoning. Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, and several other public-interest broadcasters have had their funding slashed or eliminated entirely. The justification offered by administration officials is that the government should not be in the business of funding media. That

In October 2025, the Pentagon introduced new press guidelines. The guidelines required journalists seeking access to sign a 21-page policy restricting their contact with military and civilian staff, warning that reporting on information not officially approved could lead to consequences regardless of how the information was obtained or whether it was classified. Almost the entire mainstream press corps refused. The Associated Press, Reuters, NPR, The New York Times, and every

In March 2026, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case of Priscilla Villarreal, a citizen journalist in Laredo, Texas, who was arrested in 2017 for asking a police officer a question. That is not a metaphor. She was arrested for asking a question. Villarreal, who operates under the name La Gordiloca, published news stories about a border agent's suicide and a car crash after contacting law enforcement sources for information. Texas prosecutors charged her under a state st

The United States is now ranked 64th in the world for press freedom. Not 64th in GDP. Not 64th in military spending. 64th in its ability to protect the people whose job is to tell the truth about power. Reporters Without Borders released its 2026 World Press Freedom Index last month, and the findings are damning. For a country that has long held up its First Amendment as the gold standard of democratic values, slipping to 64th out of 180 nations should be a national crisis. I

Cole Allen walked into the most press-saturated room in Washington with a shotgun and two pistols. The story everyone covered was the shooting. The story fewer people covered is what it means for journalism.

It was a typical Sunday morning at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Warm greetings, handshakes, and friendly banter filled the room. Outside, however, tension was brewing. A group of protesters gathered, intent on making their voices heard. As the service began, protesters marched into the building and disrupted it with loud chants. Their slogans echoed off the church walls and drowned out all other noise. "Justice for Renee Good,” "ICE out,” and "Hands up, don’t shoot"