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Josh Stearns on Muck Rack

Josh Stearns

Massachusetts
As seen in: Medium, HuffPost, BuzzFeed, PBS, U.S. News and World Report, The Daily Dot, Boing Boing, BuzzFeed News, On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti, Committee to Protect Journalists and
Covers:  non-profits, future of news, media freedom, journalism, digital rights, media, politics, media policy, first amendment, technology, advocacy
Senior Director, Public Square Program @DemocracyFund. Journalism and democracy of, by & for the people. Past: @grdodge @freepress. Personal account. He/Him.

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Josh Stearns’s Biography

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I cover media, journalism and tech policy, first amendment challenges and digital rights. My work focuses on building community, civic technology and nonprofit media.

I speak frequently on the future of journalism, community media, civic engagement, innovation, collaboration and media policy. My writing has been published in Orion Magazine, and online at the Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones and Yes Magazine.

Currently serving on the board of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Josh Stearns’s Journalist Portfolio

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New Orleans and the future of news

New Orleans and the future of news

Last week's announcement that the New Orleans Times-Picayune would be slashing its staff and cutting its prin…

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No News is Bad News for Nonprofit Journalism

No News is Bad News for Nonprofit Journalism

Nonprofit news organizations are winning awards and covering issues mainstream media doesn't, so why is the I…

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The Rise of Ad-Hoc Journalist Support Networks

The Rise of Ad-Hoc Journalist Support Networks

Journalistic collaboration isn't just something that happens between newsrooms. Increasingly, journalists wor…

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The Case for Unity Among Non-Profit, Community, and Public Media

The Case for Unity Among Non-Profit, Community, and Public Media

The radically shifting landscape of media and technology has sparked a renaissance in non-profit and public m…

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Take Back the Media

Take Back the Media

Community radio stations, local journalism projects, digital justice coalitions—this is just the beginning. T…

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Acts of Journalism and the Espionage Act

Acts of Journalism and the Espionage Act

The First Amendment and press freedom questions that haunt the Espionage Act are particularly important right…

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Articles

Gen Z Can't Separate Fact From AI Fiction

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By Amy Wong, Josh Stearns, Eric Effron Verified, McKenzie Sadeghi
| U.S. News and World Report Verified
I’m 18 years old, and from the age of 6, I’ve been very online – watching Minecraft YouTube videos for hours, scouring Reddit pages and chatting about politics on social media with people across the country. You name it; I’ve done it. Despite this illustrious digital career, over the last few months, I’ve been duped by online misinformation more times than I’d like – from false claims about politics designed to outrage to fake images of Taylor Swift generated by artificial intelligence.
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Democracy Dies Without Local Newspapers

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By Josh Stearns, Eric Effron Verified, McKenzie Sadeghi, Judy Ho
| U.S. News and World Report Verified
The rise of the internet 25 years ago promised a new era in access to information. We now understand that this revolution led to both a flourishing of knowledge and an explosion in news and information from unverified sources. At the same time, the shift in advertising to the web undermined the business model for news, killing thousands of newspapers and magazines across America.
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Why Funders Must Support Local News Before, During and After the Election

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By Josh Stearns
| democracyfund.org
We are just one week away from Election Day in the U.S., and in this week, good information matters more than ever — from coverage of candidates, to information about how and where to vote, to endorsements. This is particularly true in local communities where voters are deciding on everything from president, to school boards, to affordable housing. Yet, we live in a time when falsehoods about the election, the issues, and the candidates themselves are spreading rapidly.
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See all 359 licensed articles (374 Total)

Awards

Lew Hill Media Ally Award

2012 - First Amendment

Named for Lew Hill, the founder of community supported media, this award honors the contributions of allies who recognize the power of media and defend our access to it.

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Storify of the Year

2011 - First Amendment

Storify's Story of the Year was chosen by the users of Storify as the best use of the platform in 2011. "Free Press' Josh Stearns combines the craftsmanship of traditional journalism with the latest tools of new media to contribute an important and lasting piece of enterprise journalism."

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