It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the media is struggling to meet this moment in our nation and world’s history. Time and time again we see them follow unimportant stories, fail to explain complex issues, and shrink in the face of financial and government pressure. It’s not new. As long as we have had a nation, we have had a battle between the free press and the powers that are fighting to preserve their power and wealth. Today we are watching the collapse of media institutions like the Washington Post and CBS News as billionaires decide what we will see and watch with algorithms and massive amounts of money. Back in 1976 Project Censored was founded in the wake of the Watergate scandal and they are now celebrating 50 years of speaking truth to power and highlighting the organizations and people leading that charge. Fred is joined this week by MICKEY HUFF, the third director of Project Censored and the president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation to discuss this dangerous moment for our democracy as the media struggles to maintain their freedom. Huff joined Ithaca College in New York in the fall of 2024, where he now also serves as the Distinguished Director of the Park Center for Independent Media and Professor of Journalism. Since 2009, he has co-edited the annual volume of the Censored book series. His most recent books include Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025, co-edited with Shealeigh Voitl and Andy Lee Roth); The Media and Me: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People , as well as Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy and United States of Distraction: Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (and what we can do about it), both co-authored with Nolan Higdon. Huff is co-editor of the recently released STATE OF THE FREE PRESS 2026 (The Censored Press, November 11, 2025, paperback).
Learn more about Project Censored at projectcensored.org
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