Mary Alice Crim

At Free Press, we fight for everyone’s rights to connect and communicate — including making sure people get the news and information they need. That’s why I’m excited about a new campaign we just launched — showcased at NewsVoices.org.

The News Voices campaign aims to build a network of activists who want to change media, technology and journalism at the local level. We’re starting in New Jersey, where we launched our first News Voices campaign over a year ago. We’ve since held events that bring together local reporters and residents to discuss underreported issues, build relationships and spark new ideas. In New Jersey, a debate is playing out about how to spend the proceeds from the anticipated sale of four valuable public TV station licenses. The sale could generate hundreds of millions of dollars to meet a variety of state needs. We believe a significant portion of this money should be used to improve local journalism and better serve the information needs of communities statewide.