UNESCO’s flagship report on global trends in freedom of expression and journalism points to a historic 10% decline in freedom of expression globally between 2012 and 2024. This trend is a consequence of the alarming rise in self-censorship by journalists and the attacks they face — both in real life and online. more

More than 70 grantees — operating over 180 radio and television stations — nationwide will receive crucial funding in first wave of grants designed to sustain vital local news and cultural programming. more

The Pulitzer Prize Board has decided to make several changes and clarifications in Journalism categories for the 2026 Pulitzer Prizes. Such modifications are undertaken by the Board after careful examination of changes in the field, requests from news media and types of entries received in recent years. more

The Association of Independents in Radio has announced a new five-year partnership with the Ford Foundation. This $1.5 million investment will strengthen AIR’s organizational capacity, expand support for independent audio creators and build long-term sustainability in the audio industry. more

The stations had joined NPR in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over an executive order the Republican president signed that aims to cut funding for NPR and PBS. The lawsuit argues that the order amounts to unlawful and unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. more

Lawyers for the 22-year-old Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk are due in court Thursday as they push to further limit media access in the high-profile criminal case. more

Writers Guild of America East members at Hearst Magazines have began negotiations with management on a second collective bargaining agreement. more

The third annual Floodlight Summit convened participants from more than 25 countries in Cartagena, Colombia, from Dec. 5-7. The intimate setting of the invitation-only Summit fosters unique … more

The RSL Technical Steering Committee, comprised of leading internet, media and technology companies, has announced the publication of the official standards specification for Really Simple Licensing (RSL) 1.0, the first licensing standard to protect content in the AI era. more

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) today announced $3 million in grants to the Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (KBC) to expand the production and distribution of public media programming that elevates Native voices, stories and perspectives for audiences nationwide. more

The National Federation of Community Broadcasters will be launching the Rural Research Study in 2026, a first-of-its-kind national effort designed to bring rural, tribal and community stations into the center of the data that shapes the field. more

Unionized journalists at the Los Angeles Times voted 156 to 23 on Dec. 2 to ratify a three-year contract deal with Media Guild of the West (The NewsGuild-CWA 39213) — a hard-fought resolution to more than three years of contentious negotiations with Times management. more

Plans to transfer The Spokesman-Review to a nonprofit are going slower than some expected but a surge of Tuesday donations helped. The transfer is now expected to happen “in the first half of 2026,” according to a Sunday update by Rob Curley, the Spokane newspaper’s executive editor. more

2025 analysis of wages by Forbes Union, NewsGuild of NY also shows erosion of wages for more than half of represented workers without a contract. more

As Donald Trump tests the limits of anti-press litigation, a new initiative aims to document the wave of nuisance suits. more

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) has sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over its alleged failure to respond to reporters’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.   more

The Chicago Tribune Company has joined the parade of publishers suing the search engine Perplexity AI, Inc. for copyright infringement.  more

Three local public radio organizations locked in a legal clash with the Trump administration say the president’s order cutting federal funds to NPR has left them fearful of punishment for maintaining ties to the organization, a claim the Department of Justice says is “unripe.” more

URL Media has announced a $5 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to scale its revolutionary model for sustainable community media. The grant positions URL Media as one of the few national platforms intentionally built to ensure that these trusted outlets serving Black and brown audiences can grow, compete and build long-term economic strength. more

The lawsuit said the Defense Department’s new set of rules for journalists “violates the Constitution’s guarantees of due process, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.” more