A View from the Field: Keeping Everyone Connected

A View from the Field is an ongoing feature that highlights the efforts of Free Press’ team of organizers and advocates.

We provide regular updates from the field as staffers work alongside our amazing allies and activists to create a just and equitable media system.

• Heather Franklin and Matt Wood attended the Net Inclusion conference in Philadelphia, where they co-led a workshop alongside allies from Public Knowledge and the Vernonburg Group. In “Digital Equity Advocacy 101,” they trained participants to influence policymakers at the federal level. The workshop focused on concrete ways to save the Affordable Connectivity Program, which subsidizes high-speed internet access for people living near the poverty line or enrolled in federal-aid programs like Medicaid and SNAP. The ACP will run out of funding as soon as April unless Congress acts. 
• Matt took part in the panel discussion “The High Court and Online Expression: Deciphering the Legal Landscape” at State of the Net. This panel delved into the Supreme Court’s pivotal role in determining the boundaries of free speech online. The conversation examined Supreme Court cases poised to redefine the parameters of online expression. Watch the conversation.
• Matt also appeared at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners policy summit. He took part in a panel discussion exploring the state of broadband regulation and how that might change once the FCC restores its Title II authority, as expected, later this spring. Title II will give the agency the power it needs to hold Comcast and other ISPs accountable to the public interest, including safeguarding an open internet against blocking and discrimination.
• Nora Benavidez moderated the panel discussion “Rethinking Campaign Coverage for 21st-Century Audiences” for the Georgia Bar, Media & Judiciary Conference. The event explored issues at the intersection of the First Amendment, journalism, courts and the law.
• Vanessa Maria Graber took part in the panel discussion “Antiracist Journalism: Reimagining the Future of Crime Coverage” at Villanova University and the discussion “Antiracist Journalism: Making Philly Media More Equitable” at the University of Pennsylvania. Both events featured some of the cases and people highlighted in Andrea Wenzel’s book Antiracist Journalism: The Challenge of Creating Equitable Local News. The conversations explored ways to reimagine what local newsrooms and newsroom accountability can look like.
• Collette Watson took part in a symposium in Newark that Liberation Ventures held on reparations narratives.