• Journalism is in crisis.

    Newsrooms are failing. Investigative journalism is disappearing. Reporters are losing their jobs. Vital stories are not being told.

  • Democracy depends on quality reporting.

    Real journalism gives communities the information they need to understand our world, hold our leaders accountable and participate in our democracy.

  • We need
    policy solutions.

    The crisis in journalism is not just an economic issue, it’s also a political issue. Policy decisions will shape the future of journalism.

  • Take action now.

    We all have a stake in saving journalism. Join our campaign now to be part of the solution.

Welcome to SaveTheNews.org

SaveTheNews.org, a project of Free Press, is leading the search for new public policies to save journalism and to promote a robust free press in America.

In response to the shifting media landscape, there have been a number of important nonprofit initiatives, think-tank convenings, panel discussions and foundation reports on the state of journalism, the impact of technology on newsgathering, and the search for viable new models for the news. more →

The Blog

Journalism’s Hybrid System

Josh Stearns, July 20, 2010

Last week, Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Journalism Needs Government Help.” As Bollinger argues, evidence is mounting that there simply is not enough private capital from traditional revenue sources such as advertising, subscriptions and philanthropy to pay for the quality journalism our communities need. Slowly but surely, people are conceding that there is a role for carefully crafted public policy that will foster a new age of innovative, diverse, local and hard-hitting reporting.

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Everything Old is New Again

Josh Stearns, July 08, 2010

I have spent a good deal of time recently looking at two new trends in journalism - the tendency toward journalism collaborations, and the increased emphasis on community engagement. Obviously, neither of these ideas is "new" in the sense that they’ve never been tried, but the rate at which they are being adopted is a clear sign of some fundamental shifts in the way reporting is done.

Recently, however, a few bits of information came my way and reminded me that everything old is new again.

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