Aired 05/28/08

Executive Director Josh Silver co-founded Free Press with Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols in 2002. He oversees all programs, campaigns, fundraising and special projects.

Josh previously served as campaign manager for the successful statewide ballot initiative for public funding of elections in Arizona and as the director of development for the cultural arm of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

He has served as the director of an international youth exchange program and as a development and management consultant. Josh publishes frequently on media, campaign finance and other public policy issues.

http://www.freepress.net/

Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. Our work focuses on the following core issues:

Media Consolidation is about the takeover of our country's media by a handful of massive corporations and the increasing control these firms exert over the flow of news and information we need to hold our leaders accountable. Through our StopBigMedia.com campaign, Free Press aims to block further media consolidation and to promote diverse, local ownership and the vibrant press that sustains our democracy.

The Future of the Internet is being decided right now. We're fighting to preserve the open Internet and make sure all Americans have affordable access to high-speed networks, free from discrimination or interference by would-be corporate gatekeepers.

Through SavetheInternet.com, a diverse coalition of millions of people who have banded together with thousands of organizations, small businesses and bloggers, Free Press is working to make sure the free and open Internet stays that way.

Public Media includes broadcasting networks like NPR and PBS, community and Low Power FM (LPFM) radio stations that provide local coverage not available elsewhere, public access TV, and independent publications and Web sites.

Free Press supports a vibrant and sustainable public and noncommercial media sector that offers diverse fare and serves local communities. We're committed to finding long-term solutions that protect public media from the political whims of Washington and policies that create more opportunities for new voices to be heard.

Quality Journalism is essential to providing Americans with the information they need to understand what's happening in their communities, to hold elected leaders accountable, and to serve as a check on government and corporate power.

Free Press stands with working journalists who have been squeezed by runaway media consolidation; advocates for a vibrant independent press; and supports efforts to foster investigative reporting, substantive coverage of public affairs, and critical, high-quality journalism.

Media is one of the most pressing Civil Rights issues of our time. People of color, women, youth and other disenfranchised communities have long been shut out of our country's media. They own few of our media outlets, and aren't represented on the public airwaves. Free Press supports the struggle for media justice and works to strengthen laws to expand minority ownership, support new independent and ethnic media outlets, and close the digital divide.

Free Press is Building a Movement for better media in the United States. We want the American people -- not just big corporations and their high-priced lobbyists -- to have a say in crafting the policies that shape the media system. We're making the media a bona fide political issue that no politician can afford to ignore. Join us.