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As the U.S. Supreme Court pulls back from the landmark federal law designed to safeguard the voting rights of minorities, more states are stepping in to prohibit discrimination in state and local elections. State versions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act include some of the federal law’s approaches to fighting discrimination, including prohibitions against voter […]

Dear Friend of Press Freedom:

“If I hadn’t had it, I’d be dead right now.” That’s how one journalist described the protective gear that kept her alive while covering a protest. So why are authorities trying to take it away? Plus: Our latest fights against the government secrecy and media mergers that are harming the public’s right to know.

PPE protects the public’s right to know

Reporters covering protests in the United States have been shot with crowd-control munitions, sprayed with tear gas, hit with cars, and physically attacked by both law enforcement and demonstrators.

So it makes sense that many journalists wear personal protective equipment like helmets, goggles, and gas masks at demonstrations, and that organizations like Reporters Without Borders offer grants for reporters to buy PPE. One journalist told Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Senior Advocacy Adviser Caitlin Vogus that PPE is “the only reason I am alive.”

Yet across the country, jurisdictions are banning safety gear at public protests, Vogus explains. By stripping journalists of basic protections, these bans endanger both reporters and the public’s right to know.

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Join us today to learn about attacks on the press at Delaney Hall

Journalists covering protests at the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, over the past few weeks have been met with crowd-control munitions, pepper spray, and batons by law enforcement. The onslaught is part of a wave of violence journalists have faced documenting protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second administration.

Join us for a webinar at 2 p.m. ET today, where you’ll hear from FPF staff who have been documenting assaults of journalists on the ground, and from journalists who’ve observed and experienced officers’ violent tactics firsthand.

• Register here

Trump’s disappearing DMs

The Trump Presidential Library recently told The Washington Post that it possessed “no records” of Donald Trump’s first-term Twitter direct messages.

But the same day, the library sent FPF a contradictory response confirming that it does hold those records. (The Trump library is the official National Archives and Records Administration website for processing FOIA requests, not to be confused with the shrine Trump is building in Miami.)

The DM disappearing act is a component of the administration’s broader assault on public access to its records, and raises uncomfortable questions about NARA’s ability to remain impartial, much less effective, at releasing Trump’s records under its new leadership.

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Tell Congress to investigate crooked Paramount mergers

Paramount CEO David Ellison’s acquisition of CBS was enabled by a $16 million bribe to Donald Trump, laundered as a settlement of the president’s frivolous lawsuit, and a commitment to alter news content to Trump’s liking.

Now, Ellison wants to repeat the same playbook at CNN and HBO. We need lawmakers to use all of their available powers — both now and in the next Congress — to investigate these bribes and quid pro quo arrangements. Use our action center to tell your representatives to step up.

• Take action

FPF sues to uncover search warrant abuses

FPF filed a federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Justice to uncover whether the agency is systematically misrepresenting the law and hiding statutory press protections from federal judges so that it can secure search warrants against journalists.

The lawsuit, filed with assistance from Free Information Group, follows the DOJ’s failure to disclose records regarding the unprecedented January FBI raid on Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home. These include whether the agency has adopted an internal practice of hiding from magistrate judges the existence of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 — which outlaws raids on newsrooms and journalists’ homes — to evade judicial scrutiny during leak investigations.

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NDAs don’t belong in government

The Trump administration wants federal agencies to require employees to sign standardized nondisclosure agreements like the ones Trump used in the business world. If adopted, the rule would give the federal government a powerful weapon to silence public employees and trample on the free speech rights guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution.

Permitting federal agencies to force their employees to sign nondisclosure agreements is one more effort by this administration to silence dissent and punish whistleblowers.

We joined a coalition of press freedom and other rights organizations in opposing the rule.

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What we’re reading Outrage mounts at assaults of journalists and hunger strikers at Delaney Hall Truthout

“Protesters were literally pleading for press to remain. Police had other ideas,” said Adam Rose, FPF’s deputy director of advocacy.

Beyond Pulte, Congress cannot renew spy law without reforms The Hill

Congress needs to make real changes to Section 702 of FISA to protect Americans’ privacy, even if Bill Pulte won’t be the permanent director of national intelligence.

More than 40 Democrats voted to let Trump spy on Americans. They might do it again MS NOW

Speaking of Section 702, Democrats who support its reauthorization have a lot of explaining to do. Who exactly in the Trump administration do they trust with unchecked spying power? We joined a letter with over 100 organizations calling them out.

A merger could put two of America’s most important news archives under one owner Poynter

Yet another reason that journalists should be concerned about the possible Paramount-Warner merger: Consolidation of the CNN and CBS News archives under a single owner who can allow or deny access at will.

Trump DOJ tried to surveil Minnesota journalists. A judge said no Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

“These failed search warrants are what happens when incompetent prosecutors pursue political vendettas instead of justice,” said FPF’s Vogus.

‘First Amendment nightmare’: Trump’s DOJ targets journalists AND their viewers FPF

And the Minnesota search warrants didn’t just target Don Lemon and Georgia Fort — they targeted people who merely watched their YouTube channels too, FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm explains in a video.

My arrest as a student journalist The News Record

It’s a disgrace that journalist Lucas Griffith was prosecuted for doing his job. We need more journalists with his backbone.

Transaction denied Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons

Rainey Reitman, FPF’s board president, explains on a podcast how our access to banks, credit cards, and payment processors can be weaponized to stifle speech.

Rush had yet another surprise in store for fans at their third KIA Forum show in Los Angeles Thursday night.Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have been changing things up from night…

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GLEN CARBON – A shared use path connecting Glen Carbon residents to the Edwardsville High School campus and beyond is moving ahead with village approval. On June 9, 2026, trustees unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement between the Village of Glen Carbon, the City of Edwardsville, and the Madison County Transit District to build a shared use path on Route 157. The Village Board also approved a related agreement with TWM, Inc. for the Route 157 shared use path. Public Works

Good news! (Maybe?) Federal legislators have introduced a bill that, if passed, would finally guarantee the right to record law enforcement officers. Here’s Reason’s CJ Ciaramella with the details: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D–Conn.) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D–Fla.) introduced the “Right to Record Act of 2026,” which they say would create new consequences for individual […]

WOOD RIVER - Cameron Thornton, a senior at East Alton-Wood River High School, has been recognized as Midwest Members Credit Union Male Athlete of the Month for soccer after what he described as building strong connections with teammates on and off the field and maintaining his focus on faith, family, and academics. Thornton, who has played soccer for three years, said he enjoys “how fun it is to play and how competitive it can be.” He pointed to relationships with teammates as a

The O'Fallon (Missouri) City Council approved an ordinance Thursday to ban "motorized play vehicles" from city roads, sidewalks and parks.

For decades, making an untraceable firearm required specialized tools, technical expertise and hours of work. Today, it can start with a downloaded file and a consumer-grade 3D printer. As advances in additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, make it easier to produce firearms at home, lawmakers in a growing number of states are pursuing […]

St. Louis city pools are offering free admission through Labor Day weekend. Visitors are encouraged to register before arriving.

 KISS’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and rocker John Fogerty were celebrated at the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in New York City Thursday.Simmons and Stanley were inducted into the…

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BETHALTO — The Bethalto Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 200 block of St. Marys Place on Friday, June 12, 2026. When firefighters arrived, they encountered heavy smoke inside the home. Crews initially searched for the source of the fire but were unable to locate it. “We were unable to locate the fire at first, so we called a box alarm,” Bethalto Fire Chief Jay Grant said. “We were afraid the fire would take off on us before we found it. After walking

District 5 is investigating a shooting that left two teens injured on June 11, 2026 in the Kingsway West neighborhood.

The post Two Teens Shot in Kingsway West appeared first on St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

ALTON - Alton Middle School students recently took an exciting trip to Washington D.C. Seventh and eighth grade students in the Alton Community Unit School District #11 have the opportunity to travel to D.C. every two years. Dr. Brad Bolt, a social studies teacher who oversees the trip, noted that they had another great experience on June 4–6, 2026, and he will begin promoting the 2028 trip this fall. “Really, it really is an opportunity, I believe, that all students should

EAST ST. LOUIS/BELLEVILLE - Illinois State Police said Friday that special agents arrested two East St. Louis men on first-degree murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Belleville man last week in East St. Louis. The agency said 18-year-old Rashad M. Bonner and 21-year-old Damontez F. Williams were arrested by the Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigation Public Safety Enforcement Group. The arrests were announced on June 12, 2026. According

State officials have been working since 2018 to consolidate computer systems