a Better Bubble™
Dear Friend of Press Freedom:
Billionaires have been hard at work trading away your right to get the news without government interference, but we’re working just as hard to fight back. Read on for the latest press freedom news and how you can join us in standing up for press freedom.
Between the gutting of CBS News and reports of promises to remake CNN to appease the president, it’s clear that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison and his father and financial backer, Larry Ellison, see press freedom as just another bargaining chip.
The public deserves to know if the Ellisons are trading editorial independence for regulatory favors. That’s why Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and Reporters Without Borders filed a demand for records from Paramount Skydance, seeking to uncover the details of its dealings with the Trump administration as it tries to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, and in its past acquisition of Paramount.
And as Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at FPF, explains, “If the Ellisons can’t stand up to their friends in the administration and defend the First Amendment, they should stay away from the news business.”
FBI Director Kash Patel denies he’s been drunk on the job, but he’s certainly drunk on power.
The FBI has reportedly opened an investigation into Atlantic magazine journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick’s reporting on Patel’s alleged unexplained absences and drinking habits at the bureau. Patel is also reported to have ordered scores of staffers to be polygraphed as part of a panic-fueled leak hunt.
This is the second time in recent weeks we’ve learned that the FBI has baselessly investigated constitutionally protected, highly newsworthy reporting that was unfavorable to its director. The bureau’s actions “show complete disregard for the First Amendment and for the FBI’s supposed mission of stopping crime, not serving as PIs for its leadership on the taxpayer dime,” said FPF’s Stern.
Rainey Reitman, the president of FPF’s board, wrote for The Intercept about how financial institutions’ decision to cut off funds to the Southern Poverty Law Center after its widely criticized indictment could foreshadow attacks on others the administration dislikes, including the press.
“Given the Trump administration’s open hostility to journalism and its novel legal tactics to attack the press, it’s entirely possible that the next target of financial censorship could be a news outlet,” wrote Reitman, who recently released a book on financial censorship,“Transaction Denied: Big Finance’s Power to Punish Speech.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands is the site of news of both local and national importance, from military facilities to “Epstein Island.” But the U.S. territory’s public records and open meetings laws are badly outdated.
Thankfully, investigative journalist and U.S. Virgin Islands native Shirley L. Smith is helping to spearhead a campaign to modernize the transparency laws. Use our action center to tell local lawmakers to move quickly to improve transparency and accountability in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Former federal Freedom of Information Act officials will join FPF Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper for a live webinar on Friday, May 15, at 2 p.m. ET to give practical advice for journalists on how to win documents from agencies and explain what to do when an agency prioritizes political interests over transparency.
Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing membership@freedom.press, and don’t forget to register to watch the webinar on May 15.
This week, legendary First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams and other experts joined FPF to talk about the dangers of Securities and Exchange Commission’s “gag rule,” which prohibits individuals who settle with the agency from disputing its allegations publicly. We discussed how the rule threatens First Amendment interests far beyond the financial sector, how such an unconstitutional prior restraint can persist for decades, and ongoing litigation seeking to strike down the rule.
What we're reading Donald Trump is trying to change the rules about keeping records National Public RadioWe need a court to affirm that presidential records are public property and categorically reject the radical idea that they’re personal property, FPF’s Harper explained on “1A.”
U.S. revokes visas of board members at Costa Rica’s top watchdog newspaper The New York TimesThe Trump administration is taking its weaponization of immigration laws against journalists worldwide, but it won’t stop there. If it could, it would exile any reporter who dares to investigate the president and his allies, no matter where they’re from.
Exclusive: Inmates describe being punished for speaking out about Ghislaine Maxwell CNNIt’s great to see reporting on retaliation against incarcerated whistleblowers and news sources. But this kind of retaliation is certainly not limited to those who participate in reporting about Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplices — it should be covered regularly.
World’s most powerful are suing media outlets before stories are even published, says editor The GuardianStrong anti-SLAPP legislation in every state and at the federal level would go a long way in assuring news outlets that they can publish the truth without being bankrupted by frivolous lawsuits.
NYS agencies failing to make FOIL easier for public Reinvent AlbanyIt’s absurd that in 2026, New York state agencies may still require public records appeals to be done via snail mail. FPF and other groups are urging state lawmakers to pass a new bill that would require agencies to accept electronic appeals.
A secret ICE directive is testing one of Florida’s strongest traditions: Open government Florida Trib“The fact the [ICE partnership] program is inherently tied to local communities and local policing, and ICE is giving local law enforcement a gag order, is a slap in the face of taxpayers and the public at large,” explained FPF’s Harper.
Media Matters secures complete and total victory against Federal Trade Commission Media Matters for AmericaFurther proof that going on offense against the Trump administration’s censorial bullying works. Take these clowns to court — they lose regularly!
Correction: An earlier version of the newsletter item discussing financial censorship referred incorrectly to the name of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The error has been corrected.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Washington, D.C., May 8, 2026 — ABC is accusing the Federal Communications Commission of violating the First Amendment and chilling press freedom, in a regulatory filing in its dispute with the FCC over whether “The View” is a bona fide news program exempt from the agency’s equal time requirement.
The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern:
“We commend ABC for standing up for itself and the First Amendment. The legal theories the FCC asserts against broadcast licensees are frivolous and unconstitutional, and FCC Chair Brendan Carr knows it, but he hopes broadcast licensees will nonetheless self-censor rather than pick a fight.
“It’s about time news outlets start telling Carr and his Donald Trump lapel pin to kick rocks. Otherwise, he’ll continue manufacturing bogus pretexts to harass and jawbone licensees that air content his boss doesn’t like. News outlets should be emboldened after seeing The New York Times, Media Matters, The Washington Post, and others go on offense against the administration in court and win. Carr won’t stop until a judge forces him to, and hopefully ABC plans to make that happen, both here and in Carr’s equally ridiculous retaliatory license renewal proceeding in response to comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes.”
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