Soldiers. Riot police. Smooth-talking politicians. Nothing has stopped Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! from reporting the truth.
“Steal This Story, Please!” is a gripping portrait of a journalist who spent three decades covering the stories others wouldn’t touch. And it’s exactly the film this moment demands, when news organizations are buckling under pressure or quietly writing checks to the president who is suing them.
Watch it. Share it. We need 100 more Amy Goodmans for the next generation.
Can't get enough Record Store Day? Neither can we! Keep the vinyl vibes going and grab your tickets for the next installment of the Coca-Cola Film Series: High Fidelity: An Intimate Screening and Evening with John Cusack (@johncusack ). See Cusack in the iconic role that earned him a Golden Globe nomination, then stick around for a live post-show conversation with the star himself. Tickets are on sale now. Get yours at the link in bio.
@cocacolaunited
#cocacolafilmseries #atthefox #foxtheatreatlanta #johncusack #highfidelity
Today, over 1,000 professionals across the film and television industry released an open letter declaring their opposition to Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The signatories include prominent actors, filmmakers, documentarians, writers, and other professionals.
“We commend the film and television communities for their courage in speaking truth to power, and we hope that members of the press will follow their lead. It’s been widely reported that the current administration is steering this transaction to its political allies, the Ellisons, to further suppress free expression and control the public discourse. There’s nothing biased or partisan about standing up for the First Amendment and the public’s right to know,” said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Read the rest of the letter at the link in our bio.
📸: @APNews Photo/ @jaechongpix , File
Join us on June 26 for the next installment of the Coca-Cola Film Series (@cocacola ), High Fidelity: An Intimate Screening and Evening with John Cusack (@johncusack ). See John Cusack in the role that earned him a Golden Globe nomination, then stick around for a live post-show conversation with the star himself. Tickets are spinning now! Get yours at the link in bio.
#cocacolafilmseries #atthefox #foxtheatreatlanta #johncusack #highfidelity
The First Amendment protects five things: religion, speech, the press, assembly and petition. The press is the only private enterprise explicitly named in the Constitution — not as a commercial interest to be protected but as a democratic function to be preserved. The press made that list because an informed citizenry is a prerequisite for self-governance.
A press that informs the wealthy while leaving others in darkness is not the press the Constitution envisions. The press freedom clause is from a time when newspapers often advocated revolution. The era’s journalism was intended to reach the people, not just the ruling class.
Almost two centuries later, Judge Murray Gurfein famously said in the Pentagon Papers’ case in 1971, “A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know.”
The free press cannot be ubiquitous behind a paywall. And it turns out “unpaywalling” is good not only for democracy but for business.
It’s not going to solve all of journalism’s problems — the industry is in a rough place with outlets barely scraping by, regardless of paywalls. But whatever business model journalism settles on is sure to depend on public trust. Paywalls undermine that trust.
@Wired and @404mediaco — both for-profit outlets — recognized this reality and unpaywalled public records-based reporting. Other for-profit outlets should follow.
Paywalls don’t just limit the reach of news; they create a void often filled by lies and deceit. People read and share unverified social media reports — some wildly wrong — not because they’re good, but because they’re free. And those misinformation purveyors have a vested interest in convincing their audience that real news isn’t worth paying for.
Paywalls capture the already converted. Paywall-free news earns the trust of everyone else.
Read more from @johncusack in the @chicagosuntimes at the link in our bio.
📸: @ashleerezin /Chicago Sun-Times via @APNews , File
