PEN America: Senate Resolution to Preserve and Protect Local News Supports a Vital Sector for a Thriving Democracy
Nadine Farid Johnson, PEN America’s Washington director, said: “A strong local news sector is a key tenet of democracy. The decline of local news in recent years threatens to… More
The Crisis of Local News: Journalists and Members of Congress Look for Answers
By Suzanne Trimel (New York, N.Y.)-- Local news has been in crisis for close to two decades now but solutions have largely eluded an industry that just a generation ago… More
Journalists and Members of Congress Join 3/14 Conversation About Saving Local News
Nadine Farid Johnson, PEN America’s Washington director, said: “The importance of local journalism cannot be overstated. Local news outlets have historically functioned as vital governmental watchdogs. They hold elected… More
Black Reporters in Conversation: Tammy Gibson
“We can't afford to let someone else tell our story." More
Black Reporters in Conversation: Karen Jacobs
"The St. Louis American has been the most trusted voice of Missouri's African-American community for almost 100 years." More
The PEN Pod: On NSO Group Accountability, Payroll Credit for Compensation of Local News Journalists, and Eliminating Facial Recognition Technology from Facebook
“People are unmoored in terms of where to get credible information, and local news really used to fill that void and be a kind of informational anchor for people.” More
Local LGBTQ+ Reporters in Conversation: Jason Parsley
“LGBT presses are not in it to make money, per se. . . . There is a love and a sense of community that big corporations do not care… More
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PEN America On 
Professors at public universities have no right to #FreedomOfSpeech when they teach, say lawyers for the State of Florida.
Many academics describe Florida’s stance as a direct, troubling attack on #academicfreedom. Some have even called it fascist. https://www.chronicle.com/article/its-not-clear-whether-public-college-professors-have-first-amendment-rights-when-theyre-teaching
Some people hate Banned books week so much they're not only banning it in schools but calling police on it in libraries. https://www.foxcarolina.com/2022/09/27/police-called-library-investigate-obscene-material/
Notice that there is at least an entire generation of high school students who can't even have these books considered as part of their educational opportunities. Not at all. 5 years. And that's if school administration doesn't feel silenced to even ask. https://twitter.com/jonfreadom/status/1575111942586667008