Free Press (advocacy group)

History, organization, and activities

Free Press is a 501(c)(3) organization.** Free Press Action Fund** is a 501(c)(4) organization and is the group's advocacy arm.

Free Press was co-founded in 2003 by media scholar Robert W. McChesney, progressive journalist John Nichols, and activist Josh Silver.

It is part of the broader "media reform movement" (or "media democracy movement"), and has described its work in these terms. This movement promotes ideas of "media localism" and opposes media consolidation. Like other organizations that are part of the same movement (such as the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and the Center for Digital Democracy), Free Press is concerned with issues such as Federal Communications Commission regulations, "as well as Congressional funding for public broadcasting and the malfeasance of corporate media."

Free Press led the Save the Internet coalition, which advocated for net neutrality. The coalition consisted of individuals, nonprofits, and companies, ranging from advocacy groups to consumer groups to Silicon Valley companies including Google and Microsoft.

Free Press organized six National Conferences for Media Reform (NCMRs) from 2003 to 2013.

In July 2025, Free Press released the Media Capitulation Index, a ranking of the independence of the 35 largest media companies in the United States. The release of the index was accompanied by a report, "A More Perfect Media: Saving America's Fourth Estate from Billionaires, Broligarchy and Trump", which calls for a number of measures to embolden large media firms to act in the interests of democracy and against authoritarianism. The report explains the chicken ranking system used by the index.

Net neutrality

Free Press is a strong supporter of net neutrality. In 2008, Free Press was the key mover in a pro-net neutrality campaign that "drew together strange bedfellows, including the Christian Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Gun Owners of America, and helped set in motion a broader debate on the issue" that resulted in an FCC hearing on the subject. In its campaign for net neutrality, Free Press has been allied with Democratic members of Congress. The group supports the 2015 Open Internet Order, in which the FCC classified broadband internet as a common carrier service under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, which meant that "no content could be blocked by broadband providers and that the internet would not be divided into pay-to-play fast lanes for internet and media companies that can afford it and slow lanes for everyone else."

References

References

1. "[https://www.freepress.net/about/staff Staff]". ''The Free Press''. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
2. {{cite form 990. link
3. "[https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayAll.do?dispatchMethod=displayAllInfo&Id=436584&ein=412106721&country=US&deductibility=all&dispatchMethod=searchAll&isDescending=false&city=&ein1=&postDateFrom=&exemptTypeCode=al&submitName=Search&sortColumn=orgName&totalResults=2&names=Free+Press&resultsPerPage=25&indexOfFirstRow=0&postDateTo=&state=DC Free Press]". ''Tax Exempt Organization Search'' [[Internal Revenue Service]]. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
4. (February 25, 2015). "Tom Wheeler tweaks net neutrality plan after Google push". Politico.
5. Kang, Cecilia. (28 March 2008). "Net Neutrality's Quiet Crusader: Free Press's Ben Scott Faces Down Titans, Regulators in Battle Over Internet Control". [[The Washington Post]].
6. [https://www.guidestar.org/profile/41-2106721 Free Press], [[Guidestar]] (accessed August 2025).
7. (April 14, 2008). "Tim Wu Elected Board Chair At Free Press".
8. Dan Berger, [http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/285/302 Defining Democracy: Coalition Politics and the Struggle for Media Reform], ''International Journal of Communication 3'' (2009).
9. Adi Robertson, [https://www.theverge.com/2014/5/5/5683080/net-neutrality-supporters-gear-up-to-take-on-the-fcc Who's fighting to save the internet now?: Net neutrality supporters gear up to take on the FCC], ''[[The Verge]]'' (May 5, 2014).
10. (2006-06-08). "Opinion: No Tolls on The Internet". [[Washington Post]].
11. Anne, Broache. (April 24, 2006). "New group aims to 'save the Internet'".
12. Culpepper, Sophie. (July 29, 2025). "A chicken for The New York Times, a star for Bloomberg: A new "Media Capitulation Index" ranks large media and tech companies". Nieman Lab.
13. Sullivan, Margaret. (2025-07-29). "American Crisis exclusive: The 'Media Capitulation Index'".
14. Cecilia Kanga, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/technology/net-neutrality.html F.C.C. Chairman Pushes Sweeping Changes to Net Neutrality Rules], ''New York Times'' (April 26, 2017).
15. Edward Wyatt, [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/01/technology/fcc-considering-hybrid-regulatory-approach-to-net-neutrality.html F.C.C. Considering Hybrid Regulatory Approach to Net Neutrality], ''New York Times'' (November 1, 2014).