Free Expression Advocates Establish Freedom of the Press Foundation

image
Author: Terri Harel
Published: 18 Dec, 2012
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
2 min read

Cybersecurity has certainly become a serious topic of discussion in the last few years, but particularly since the emergence of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower organization that seeks to make public the private doings of the government and other large organizations. This calls national security into question as it hangs in a delicate balance with freedom of the press, freedom of information, and a citizen's right to know.

Yesterday, the Freedom of the Press Foundation was established to fund four media outlets: The National Security Archive, MuckRock News, The UpTake, and WikiLeaks. The press release reads:

"Notable journalists and free expression advocates today launched the Freedom of the Press Foundation, an organization designed to crowd-source funding for cutting-edge, independent journalism and publishing outlets that expose government and corporate mismanagement, corruption, and law breaking."

Co-founder Trevor Timm continues:

“Seeking the truth in reporting without fear or favor is one of the great traditions of journalism and the foundation that underlies the First Amendment. We aim to support economic independence in the Fourth Estate, so that hard-hitting investigative journalism doesn’t end up on the cutting-room floor because of government or corporate censorship.”

Two Huffington Post writers published an article about the initiative (of which they are involved) titled Crowdfunding the Right to Know, which along with social media outlets like Twitter, is becoming a means to penetrate the mainstream media's monopoly on information and, most importantly, perception.

After WikiLeaks exposed the Pentagon Papers in 2010, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Representative Peter King (R-NY) pressured certain financial organizations that allowed funding processing for Wikileaks such as PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and Bank of America, to stop accepting donations to that website.

This eliminated 95% of WikiLeaks funding, almost overnight. As stated by Freedom of the Press Foundation, funding is a form of speech, and limiting such funding is thus a limit on free speech.

After all, the Citizens United Supreme Court case offered protections to corporations' free speech via campaign finance. Doesn't good journalism warrant the same protections? Or, a fierce offensive to ensure its perpetuation?

 

IVP Donate

Latest articles

Elon Musk
Musk vs The Duopoly: Will the America Party Succeed Where Others Have Failed?
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, and former Director of the Department of Government Efficiency, has officially launched the America Party, framing it as a challenge to what he calls a “one-party system” dominated by wasteful government spending....
07 Jul, 2025
-
5 min read
CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read