We can’t fix our democracy without fixing our media crisis. Deregulation, disinvestment, and disregard for press freedom are all policy choices—@bilalb.bsky.social, @shahrzadshams.bsky.social, & @victorpickard.bsky.social explain the need to reverse course on all three fronts. https://bit.ly/4rUvr01

“Decades of market-first policymaking has systematically eroded the media’s democratic function, leaving the press structurally vulnerable at precisely the moment independent journalism matters most.” @bilalb.bsky.social @shahrzadshams.bsky.social of @rooseveltinstitute.org discuss a new report:

Read the full report from @victorpickard.bsky.social, @bilalb.bsky.social and @shahrzadshams.bsky.social of @rooseveltinstitute.org called "The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis." HERE: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Thanks to the @freepress.bsky.social for having @bilalb.bsky.social & me for this Q&A discussion about our new @rooseveltinstitute.org report, where we explore the roots of the crises facing our media system & argue that we need to rethink our policy approach to this vital democratic infrastructure

The richest 0.001% now have three times as much wealth as the poorer half of humanity combined. www.commondreams.org/news/world-i...

Useful thread!

"today’s media crisis wasn’t inevitable but the consequence of policymakers’ embracing a corporate libertarian approach to media policy." 🔥

When journalism is trapped inside a commercial straitjacket, it can’t fight back. Our new piece on how hyper commercialism, oligarchy, and state coercion have converged to threaten the press — based on our recent @rooseveltinstitute.org report. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

New @thenation.com piece by @bilalb.bsky.social, @shahrzadshams.bsky.social and myself that draws from our recent @rooseveltinstitute.org report to argue for structural media reform: www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Over at the @rooseveltinstitute.org, a new report by @bilalb.bsky.social, @shahrzadshams.bsky.social, and @victorpickard.bsky.social examines the political economy of the US media system.

"[D]ecades of market-first policymaking has systematically eroded the media’s democratic function... consolidation that concentrated power in fewer hands, the abandonment of meaningful public-interest standards, and the rise of platform monopolies with virtually no accountability."

Really excited to share this new report I wrote with my brilliant colleagues, @bilalb.bsky.social & @victorpickard.bsky.social! We explore the roots of the crises facing our media system & argue that a truly democratic information ecosystem must be protected from both state *&* commercial coercion⤵️

New from @rooseveltinstitute.org @bilalb.bsky.social @victorpickard.bsky.social @shahrzadshams.bsky.social "The next chapter of democracy reform must treat our media system as a core infrastructure that makes democracy possible & thus demands protection from both state control & commercial capture."

The real con, says Director of Democratic Institutions @bilalb.bsky.social: A tax giveaway to billionaires while starving communities of healthcare, food assistance, and reliable public media sources. Here’s some intel on the impact on the media: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

"When commercial imperatives override democratic needs, and when policymakers treat media as just another market rather than essential civic infrastructure, we create a media system susceptible to pressure from all directions."

A big part of the erosion of democracy is corporate capture of news media. This is a crucial report. Thanks @rooseveltinstitute.org

Any serious agenda for democratic renewal requires us to recognize that news should be treated as a public good, not a commodity. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

"Market supremacy has shrunk both our understanding of what a civic information economy ought to provide in a democracy, and our imagination about how to better guarantee the public access to reliable, diverse information." new from @rooseveltinstitute.org rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

spoiler: mass media consolidated in the hands of ad-based corporations owned by a handful of right wing billionaires is easily exploited by a wide variety of bad actors and fatal to democracy and informed consensus

"The crisis facing American journalism is the predictable outcome of decades of corporate libertarian media policy that prioritized commercial logics over democracy."

NEW📰: Democracy requires both an informed citizenry and a free press. But how do these ideals show up in public policy? Today, we have a paper out that looks at how media has become highly concentrated, commercialized, and drained of its public interest potential.

A new report from MIC Co-Director @victorpickard.bsky.social as well as @shahrzadshams.bsky.social and @bilalb.bsky.social maps the political economy behind today’s media crisis and asks the urgent question: What would a media system designed to strengthen democracy actually look like?

Thrilled for our new @rooseveltinstitute.org report to be out in the world! A few thoughts on why this matters today, and why media policy and structural media reform must be central to a broader pro-democracy movement: 🧵🧵🧵🧵

Thrilled to announce the publication of our @rooseveltinstitute.org report that uncovers the policy roots of the current crises facing our news, information & communication systems. We argue that media reform must become central to a US pro-democracy movement. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Was thrilled to help consult for this fantastic John Oliver segment on the tragic plight of U.S. public media and why, if we hope to be a democracy, we still need public media for so many things that commercial media will never provide. Deserves a wide viewership. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknM...

His Arabic is really good lol. The ع could use a boost but I thought it was AI.

"Truly democratic and engaged journalism requires...that journalism serves not just profit imperatives, but addresses people’s needs, tells their stories, and goes to where the silences are throughout society." As Americans' trust in the media declines, a 🎯 take on how we can restore trust.

My recent essay published by the the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center's (UCIMC) Public i. The UCIMC celebrated its 25th anniversary this past weekend: publici.ucimc.org/2025/10/the-...

At this point I think it’s fair to say that most of the criticisms being lobbed at Mamdani are not out of genuine anger or surprise at any new revelations about him but are rather a transparently bad faith smear campaign to punish him for being a successful politician while Muslim

How do we break out of the doom loop of authoritarianism & deep inequality? On 11/6, Future Currents is hosting @bilalb.bsky.social (@rooseveltinstitute.org) @povertyscholar.bsky.social (Cornell) & Erica Gallegos (Childcare for Every Family) to discuss. Register today us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

NEW 📰: Building a more effective government that moves beyond the status quo requires honest reflection. Drawing on interviews with more than 45 former senior Biden officials, our latest report offers 161 practical recommendations for better governance. https://bit.ly/4312Zid

Surprising results show conservative and independent voters back taxing the rich 👇 Findings from our grassroots canvassing pilot show that conversations rooted in shared economic experience — rather than partisan messaging — are successfully bringing Americans together and moving them to action.

You can always count on @tressiemcphd.bsky.social to carefully excise the stupid from elite political discourse and neatly put it on display.

New from me! Do you have questions about the enhanced premium tax credits? What are they and why are they important? Why have they taken a central role in the federal government shutdown? Find out in my explainer: rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/enhance...

Maybe the new CBS will investigate and find out.

Michigan is a bellwether for public policy. The Trump administration’s robinhood-in-reverse tax policy isn’t landing. What Michiganders want: to tax the rich and invest in the public good. New @freep op-ed from me and @bilalb.bsky.social: www.freep.com/story/opinio...

As @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social and @bilalb.bsky.social argue in @freep.com, Michigan voters—who often influence national outcomes—can set the tone for a fairer economy. 3/3 www.freep.com/story/opinio...

During his campaign, Trump promised a "Michigan miracle" that would "reclaim our stolen wealth," but so far his policies are only paying off for the richest Americans. @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social and @bilalb.bsky.social of @rooseveltforward.org lay out the facts for @freep.com:

The longer this goes on without elite pushback the worse it is for American elites- they either are condemned to be courtiers of Trump family or they are going to have to successfully preserve their positions with little public support amidst huge backlash and faction fighting

Wild times we live in.

In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.

I've tried to have this conversation IRL a few times, and it's a little hard to convince people how deep the freakout over wikipedia was.

I mean this sort of seriously. Nobody remembers anything. The past 40 years have only been historicized in the most meager sense of the word. Everything feels like a rupture, feels unprecedented, feels disorienting precisely because there is no past.

🤔

Israel has killed at least 237 journalists and media workers since October 7, 2023, according to CPJ data. Those who have survived the record death toll have faced being traumatized, displaced, and deliberately starved over the last two years. More from @niemanreports.org:

Israel carried out airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Saturday, killing one person, wounding seven and briefly cutting a highway that links Beirut with parts of south Lebanon, the Health Ministry said. n.pr/4h9qVFO

Data released last week shows that Americans’ trust in the media has hit a record low. @bilalb.bsky.social calls for a news media ecosystem that prioritizes providing information over maximizing profit—and explains why public media can take us there. rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/t...