Friend,

I wanted to make sure you’d seen the email below from my Co-CEO Craig Aaron. It’s hard to overstate just how proud we are of everything we’ve done together over the past six weeks.

And this week, we have a real opportunity to move toward closing the digital divide once and for all. Congress is expected to make broadband part of the next recovery package — and we need your help to do everything we can to push for the right solutions.

Will you donate today to help us do whatever it takes, and make sure Congress takes the digital divide seriously this time?

More than 20 million people — largely low-income communities and people of color — are stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide as COVID-19 continues to spread. We must get them the connectivity they need to get through this crisis.

Every donation makes a difference, so please give what you can today.

Thank you so much for your support.

Jessica J. González
Free Press Co-CEO

The past six weeks have been a whirlwind, and I’m so proud of everything we’ve accomplished together.

I’m reaching out with an update on what we’ve been up to. Here are just a few examples of what supporters like you have helped us accomplish these past few weeks:

• We fought for affordable internet access for everyone and filed comments with the FCC after the federal courts sent back several measures to fix the mistakes in its bad Net Neutrality ruling. More than 4,500 of you joined to demand the FCC reinstate Net Neutrality and restore its Title II authority so the agency can actually protect people.
• We held two News Voices virtual town halls with residents in Newark and Charlotte to learn about local needs and stories going untold in places hard-hit during COVID-19.
• After talking to numerous Capitol Hill offices about why journalists should be part of the next recovery bill, we sent letters to all 50 governors, co-signed with PEN America and Common Cause, asking them to make the civic information needs of people part of their recovery efforts.
• I did an interview with the Columbia Journalism Review, and our team had Op-Eds published in Common Dreams on the importance of local journalism in a public-health crisis, and in Yes! Magazine on how to fight COVID-19 misinformation and bigotry.

We know we’ll have our work cut out for us this coming week — as we ramp up efforts to make sure Congress’ next recovery bill helps people get and stay connected to the internet and keeps reporters in local communities on the job to cover the crisis.

We’ve got our work cut out for us, but now is the time to make big changes happen. Thanks for all your support.

Craig Aaron
Free Press Co-CEO
freepress.net

P.S. This work is taking a ton of resources — but it’s the work we absolutely need to be doing right now. If you’re able, please consider donating to Free Press today. You can make a gift to fuel the fight right now. Every single dollar makes a difference since we don’t take a dime from business, governments or political parties.