thenation--2020-05-12--Let Our People Vote!

Let Our People Vote!

depriBernie Sanders received donations from more than 5 million Americans over the course of this presidential election cycle .
Hundreds of thousands of activist volunteers knocked on almost 7 million doors and made 49 million phone calls as part of the largest grassroots political movement in modern US history .
These people deserve the right to vote .
Senator Sanders may have suspended his campaign for president , but the movement for social and economic justice that his candidacy galvanized will continue to fight for the progressive policies that have defined the Vermont lawmaker ’ s life ’ s work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 20 states ( including New York , for now ) and last month urged his supporters to vote for him in the upcoming contests “ to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic convention , where we will be able to exert significant influence over the party platform.
” Democracy Wins in New York—and Bernie ’ s Back on the Ballot !
It is essential for Sanders to amass more than 25 percent of the delegates in order to pressure the Democratic Party to adopt Bernie ’ s progressive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sanders supporter must vote by mail for Bernie Sanders in their upcoming primary elections .
But there is a bigger philosophical issue here , one that has been highlighted by the New York State Board of Elections ’ decision to remove the June 23 Democratic presidential primary contest from the ballot .
This action was blatantly unconstitutional , US federal judge Analisa Torres ruled last week , because it would have deprived millions of New York voters of their right to vote .
Judge Torres , in her 30-page opinion , said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the plaintiffs ’ “ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
” Unlike Governor Andrew Cuomo and his hand-picked Board of Elections , Judge Torres understands how important the franchise is to New Yorkers .
Nevertheless , New York state filed an appeal to Judge Torres ’ s ruling on Wednesday , further signaling the state ’ s inexplicable decision to cancel the New York state presidential primary .
The New York State Board of Elections ’ explanation for removing the presidential primary from the ballot—to protect voters from contracting Covid-19 at polling places—makes no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state of New York will receive an application to apply for an absentee ballot per executive order .
Voting rights are the bedrock of our democracy .
When state officials cancel elections , especially in a blue state like New York , it sets a dangerous precedent that could be used by Trump ’ s GOP to cancel elections at will .
Around the country , GOP officials have attempted to suppress the vote .
The last thing we need now is for New York state to provide them with a blueprint to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be higher .
Donald Trump is the most corrupt and dangerous president in modern US history .
Trump poses an existential threat to the health and welfare of the people of this country , as his grossly negligent conduct during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has vividly illustrated .
During his disgraceful tenure in the White House , Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his contempt for the working people of this country , while giving succor to the most hateful and bigoted elements of society .
Through his almost daily demonstrations of extreme narcissism and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decisions—Trump has repeatedly proven that he is unfit for office .
What we need now is a new vision for America , to repair the damage done to our nation and transform this country into a more equal and compassionate democracy .
Although Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign for president , the principles that have defined his life ’ s work are more important now than ever .
That ’ s why we need Sanders supporters to vote for him in the upcoming primaries , so we can fight to win Medicare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end endless wars , and pass the Green New Deal .
America is at an inflection point , and the people of this country have a crucial choice to make .
The Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to strip voters of their franchise .
Every American deserves the right to vote by mail during this time .
Republicans oppose vote-by-mail efforts because they understand that the more people vote , the fewer elections they ’ ll win .
The Democratic Party must uphold its essential values of promoting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time when Trump and the GOP are seeking to eviscerate voting rights throughout the country because they don ’ t believe in representative democracy , Sanders supporters deserve the right to vote .

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Bernie Sanders received donations from more than 5 million Americans over the course of this presidential election cycle. Hundreds of thousands of activist volunteers knocked on almost 7 million doors and made 49 million phone calls as part of the largest grassroots political movement in modern US history.
These people deserve the right to vote.
Senator Sanders may have suspended his campaign for president, but the movement for social and economic justice that his candidacy galvanized will continue to fight for the progressive policies that have defined the Vermont lawmaker’s life’s work.
Sanders remains on the ballot in more than 20 states (including New York, for now) and last month urged his supporters to vote for him in the upcoming contests “to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic convention, where we will be able to exert significant influence over the party platform.” Related Article Democracy Wins in New York—and Bernie’s Back on the Ballot! Zephyr Teachout
It is essential for Sanders to amass more than 25 percent of the delegates in order to pressure the Democratic Party to adopt Bernie’s progressive policies. That’s why every Sanders supporter must vote by mail for Bernie Sanders in their upcoming primary elections.
But there is a bigger philosophical issue here, one that has been highlighted by the New York State Board of Elections’ decision to remove the June 23 Democratic presidential primary contest from the ballot.
This action was blatantly unconstitutional, US federal judge Analisa Torres ruled last week, because it would have deprived millions of New York voters of their right to vote. Judge Torres, in her 30-page opinion, said that the Board of Elections’ action violated the plaintiffs’ “First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.” Current Issue View our current issue
Unlike Governor Andrew Cuomo and his hand-picked Board of Elections, Judge Torres understands how important the franchise is to New Yorkers. Nevertheless, New York state filed an appeal to Judge Torres’s ruling on Wednesday, further signaling the state’s inexplicable decision to cancel the New York state presidential primary.
The New York State Board of Elections’ explanation for removing the presidential primary from the ballot—to protect voters from contracting Covid-19 at polling places—makes no sense because every registered voter in the state of New York will receive an application to apply for an absentee ballot per executive order.
Voting rights are the bedrock of our democracy. When state officials cancel elections, especially in a blue state like New York, it sets a dangerous precedent that could be used by Trump’s GOP to cancel elections at will. Around the country, GOP officials have attempted to suppress the vote. The last thing we need now is for New York state to provide them with a blueprint to do so. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
The stakes could not be higher.
Donald Trump is the most corrupt and dangerous president in modern US history. Trump poses an existential threat to the health and welfare of the people of this country, as his grossly negligent conduct during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has vividly illustrated.
During his disgraceful tenure in the White House, Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his contempt for the working people of this country, while giving succor to the most hateful and bigoted elements of society. Through his almost daily demonstrations of extreme narcissism and vindictiveness—not to mention his countless awful policy decisions—Trump has repeatedly proven that he is unfit for office.
What we need now is a new vision for America, to repair the damage done to our nation and transform this country into a more equal and compassionate democracy.
Although Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign for president, the principles that have defined his life’s work are more important now than ever. That’s why we need Sanders supporters to vote for him in the upcoming primaries, so we can fight to win Medicare for All, cancel student debt, end endless wars, and pass the Green New Deal.
America is at an inflection point, and the people of this country have a crucial choice to make. The Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to strip voters of their franchise. Every American deserves the right to vote by mail during this time. Republicans oppose vote-by-mail efforts because they understand that the more people vote, the fewer elections they’ll win.
The Democratic Party must uphold its essential values of promoting the universal franchise in America. At a time when Trump and the GOP are seeking to eviscerate voting rights throughout the country because they don’t believe in representative democracy, Sanders supporters deserve the right to vote.


thenation--2020-05-12--Covid-19 Has Made Our Broken School System Worse

Do you hear that silence ?
That ’ s the absence of footsteps echoing through our nation ’ s public school hallways .
It ’ s the silence of teaching in a virtual space populated with students on mute who lack a physical presence .
It ’ s the crushing silence of those who are now missing , who can ’ t attend the classroom that Zoom and Google built .
Maybe you heard the shouted pleas of teachers across the country last year as we walked out of our classrooms and into the streets , begging for affordable housing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equitable funding and resources for our students ?
Or maybe you heard the impassioned screams of frightened kids as they stormed into the streets and onto the news , demanding safety and an end to the threat of gun violence in our nation ’ s school buildings ?
Now , there ’ s nothing left to hear .
Today , all we ’ re left with is a deafening silence that muffles the sound of so much suffering .
The unfolding public health , mental health , and economic crisis of Covid-19 has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The institutions charged with caring for and guiding our most valuable assets—our children—were already gutted by half a century of chronic underfunding , misguided curricular policies that prioritized testing over real learning , and social policies that favored austerity over taking care of the most vulnerable members of our society .
Now that so many teachers are sequestered and alone or locked away with family , our bonds of proximity broken , we ’ re forced to stare into that void , scrambling to find and care for our students across an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broken .
The empire has no clothes .
Not so many weeks ago , I used to be a teacher in a sprawling public high school outside Portland , Ore. Before the virus arrived , I taught painting , drawing , ceramics , and filmmaking in three different studio classrooms .
There , groups of students ranging across the economic , ethnic , religious , racial , and linguistic spectrum sat shoulder to shoulder , chatting and creating , day after day , year after year .
Music played and we talked .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ cacophonous and chaotic ; on others , calm and productive .
In those spaces , we did our best to connect , to forge thriving communities .
What I now realize , though , is that the physical space we shared was the only thing truly tying us all together .
Those classrooms were the duct tape securing the smashed bumper on the wreck of a car that was our public education system .
Now , it couldn ’ t be more obvious : no one ’ s going to solve the problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the usual solutions .
When desperation leaves us without imagination , clinging to old answers , scrambling to prop up systems that perpetuated and solidified inequity , it means missing the real opportunity of this otherwise grim moment .
The “ great pause ” that is the Covid-19 shutdown has allowed us all to stare into the void , to see far more clearly just how schools have long shouldered the burdens of a society that functions largely for the privileged , leaving the rest of our nation ’ s children and families @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the first weeks after schools closed across the country , as parents struggled to “ homeschool ” their children , memes , rants , tweets , and strongly-worded e-mails to school administrators popped up across the Internet .
They expressed the frustrations of the moment .
Those shared tales of the laughably insane trials and tribulations of parents trying to provide a reasonable facsimile of an education to kids sequestered at home , while still trying to work full time under the specter of a pandemic , amazed and depressed me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweeted , “ Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes .
Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year .
Or a week.
” Rimes ’ s tweet seemed to encapsulate the absurd reality of life at home with kids in the time of the coronavirus .
As I read her tweet , I laughed out loud and in utter solidarity with her .
A teacher no less , I , too , was trying and failing spectacularly to oversee the “ education ” of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home .
For those of us siloed in our privilege—healthy , with plenty of food stocked away in cupboards , quiet rooms with doors that shut , ample Internet access , and enough Wi-Fi-enabled devices to share among the members of our households—our quarantined home life is challenging , but not impossible .
Our daily frustration continues to be a function of that privilege .
For those without it , those who were already living in poverty or at its brink when the pandemic struck , homeschooling poses yet another crushing hurdle in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ education for your children when simply securing food , work , and shelter is your all-consuming reality ?
Meanwhile , as exhausted parents screamed at school districts , teachers , and administrators on the Internet about providing virtual learning resources and online curricula to engage students during the school day , public school officials ( at least in my world ) were scrambling to deal with a far more immediate threat : kids going hungry .
What this pandemic promptly revealed was that the most fundamental and urgent service schools provide to many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gravest and most immediate threat to our most vulnerable students was , and continues to be , hunger .
If schools are closed , so is the critical infrastructure that helps keep our nation ’ s children fed .
Aside from SNAP ( the food stamp program ) , the National School Lunch Program is the largest anti-hunger initiative in the country .
It feeds 29.7 million children on school days , with an additional 14.7 million children fed thanks to the School Breakfast Program and more than 6.1 million via the Child @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those numbers don ’ t even include the informal system of food distribution that teachers often provide students in their classrooms .
On average , teachers spend upwards of 300 of their own dollars yearly providing food to students .
So , no wonder that , as soon as Covid-19 closed the doors of our schools , administrators , teachers , custodians , cafeteria workers , bus drivers , and volunteers across the country mobilized on a large—and downright heroic—scale to attempt to keep those students fed .
In the Beaverton school district @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Go ” curbside meal distribution program was quickly set up , making daily meals accessible to every student in the district .
As economic conditions head for Great Depression–level misery , think of these as 2020 versions of the infamous breadlines of that era , only , in this case , they ’ re for children ( and sometimes their families ) .
The responsibility for feeding students was not the only immediate concern .
The adults in our school typically also serve as first responders for those students .
We monitor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We notice when kids are struggling emotionally and , as mandatory reporters , step in when we suspect a child is living in a perilous or unsafe situation .
In the first weeks after we left our classrooms , calls to Oregon ’ s child abuse hotline dropped by more than half .
Other states across the nation reported similar declines .
The drop in calls has frightening implications .
Coupled with increasing economic insecurity and social isolation , rising rates of child abuse are undoubtedly imminent .
When teachers , counselors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer able to observe and communicate openly with students , signs of neglect or abuse are much more likely to go undetected and unreported .
The closure of our buildings also poses a huge barrier to the normal support of students struggling with mental health issues .
Our children are already suffering from alarming rates of depression and anxiety .
Isolating them from their friends , peers , mentors , caregivers , and teachers will only compound their mental-health challenges .
Trying to Bridge the Digital Divide Add the surreal nature of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directives from both the federal and state government and you have a formula for problems .
When we were finally instructed to leave our school , it was without advanced warning .
In my classrooms , half-finished clay projects littered the countertops , while palettes loaded with acrylic paint and incomplete canvases were left to desiccate and gather dust on the shelves .
Students departed without cleaning out their lockers or often even gathering their schoolwork and books , not to speak of the supplies they ’ ll need to complete that work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students do have access to technology—three years ago , our district adopted a policy of providing a Chromebook to each student—it soon became apparent that there were huge obstacles to overcome in transforming our brick-and-mortar classrooms into virtual spaces .
Many students had , for instance , broken or lost their Chromebooks .
Some had missing chargers .
And even many of those who had their Chromebooks with them at home had limited or no access to Wi-Fi connectivity .
Trying to reach all my students across that digital divide became the central @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made calls ; I texted ; I e-mailed ; I posted announcements in my digital classroom stating that we ’ d be reconvening online .
Still , none of these efforts mattered for the students stuck at home without Wi-Fi or lacking the necessary devices .
Before our nation ’ s schools closed , the Federal Communications Commission estimated that around 21 million people in America did not have broadband Internet access .
According to data collected by Microsoft , however , the number who can ’ t access the Internet at broadband @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
While districts across the country scrambled to provide mobile hotspots and working devices to students , teachers like me began the demoralizing and herculean task of scrapping years of thoughtfully crafted curriculums in order to provide an entirely new online learning experience .
We stepped into our virtual classrooms with the knowledge that , no matter how many shiny new digital resources we have at our disposal , there ’ s nothing we can do to provide equitable access to education remotely .
And even if we were to solve such problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ space or the support students need to learn .
Kids living in cramped situations will struggle just to find a quiet place to attend our online classes .
Those whose working parents suddenly need childcare for younger siblings have sometimes found themselves taking on the roll of primary caregivers .
Some students whose families were in ever more perilous economic situations increased their work hours and scrapped the idea of attending school altogether .
And many of our English-as-a-second-language , or ESL , students , as well as the 14 % of students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” are now in trouble .
They ’ ve been left to navigate a complex web of digital platforms and new learning approaches without the individualized attention or frequent checks for understanding that they rely on from their teachers .
What virtual learning can never stand in for is the moment when a student leans over and asks me or a peer for help .
That simple act of vulnerability that builds a bridge to another human being may be the most important moment in any classroom and now it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school kids need help most , they can ’ t simply lean over and ask for it .
Today , I teach from my kitchen , my dining room , or the floor of my bedroom .
I stare across the digital abyss into the pixelated faces of just a handful of students .
It ’ s impossible to read their emotions or body language .
Even when I unmute them , most choose not to speak .
Each day , fewer of them show up to class .
Sometimes , students turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only to a sea of black rectangles , the white text of the student ’ s name the sole indicator of his or her presence in my new classroom .
Not surprisingly , our sessions together are stilted and awkward .
I try to make jokes and connect , but it ’ s impossible to replicate online the intimacy of a face-to-face interaction .
The magic of what was , of 25 to 40 students working cohesively in community , is lost .
And in the darkest hours of the early morning , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crushing anxiety pushing on my chest , I think about all the third graders unable to participate in my daughter ’ s distance-learning classroom .
I wonder about the students I ’ ve still been unable to reach—the ones who haven ’ t responded to my e-mails or completed any assignments , and whose faces I never see online .
Where are they ?
How are they ?
I have no way of knowing .
Our world no longer looks the same .
This pause , which has caused , and will continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also be a gift , offering a shift in perspective and a chance to pivot .
Perhaps it ’ s a rare opportunity to acknowledge that our nation ’ s public schools should not be left so alone to provide food , mental health care , and digital connectivity for our nation ’ s children .
That should be , in a fashion almost unimaginable in America today , the role of the larger society .
Now is not the time to be silent but to raise our voices , using any privilege @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time , money , or simply access , to demand major changes both in how all of us think about our American world and in the systems that perpetuate such inhumane and unconscionable disparities for so many .
There is no way to continue putting yet more duct tape on that smashed bumper of a public education system that was already such a wreck before the coronavirus arrived on these shores .
Nor is this the time to retreat into our silos , hoarding privilege along with toilet paper and hand sanitizer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the children in this country .
It ’ s time instead to reach out across the six feet of social-distancing space that now divides us all and demand more for those who aren ’ t able to demand it for themselves .

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.
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Do you hear that silence?
That’s the absence of footsteps echoing through our nation’s public school hallways. It’s the silence of teaching in a virtual space populated with students on mute who lack a physical presence. It’s the crushing silence of those who are now missing, who can’t attend the classroom that Zoom and Google built.
Maybe you heard the shouted pleas of teachers across the country last year as we walked out of our classrooms and into the streets, begging for affordable housing, health care, and access to equitable funding and resources for our students? Or maybe you heard the impassioned screams of frightened kids as they stormed into the streets and onto the news, demanding safety and an end to the threat of gun violence in our nation’s school buildings? Now, there’s nothing left to hear.
Today, all we’re left with is a deafening silence that muffles the sound of so much suffering. The unfolding public health, mental health, and economic crisis of Covid-19 has laid bare the fragility of what was. The institutions charged with caring for and guiding our most valuable assets—our children—were already gutted by half a century of chronic underfunding, misguided curricular policies that prioritized testing over real learning, and social policies that favored austerity over taking care of the most vulnerable members of our society. Now that so many teachers are sequestered and alone or locked away with family, our bonds of proximity broken, we’re forced to stare into that void, scrambling to find and care for our students across an abyss of silence. The system is broken. The empire has no clothes. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Not so many weeks ago, I used to be a teacher in a sprawling public high school outside Portland, Ore. Before the virus arrived, I taught painting, drawing, ceramics, and filmmaking in three different studio classrooms. There, groups of students ranging across the economic, ethnic, religious, racial, and linguistic spectrum sat shoulder to shoulder, chatting and creating, day after day, year after year. Music played and we talked.
On some days, the classes were cacophonous and chaotic; on others, calm and productive. In those spaces, we did our best to connect, to forge thriving communities. What I now realize, though, is that the physical space we shared was the only thing truly tying us all together. Those classrooms were the duct tape securing the smashed bumper on the wreck of a car that was our public education system.
Now, it couldn’t be more obvious: no one’s going to solve the problems of our present and near future with the usual solutions. When desperation leaves us without imagination, clinging to old answers, scrambling to prop up systems that perpetuated and solidified inequity, it means missing the real opportunity of this otherwise grim moment. The “great pause” that is the Covid-19 shutdown has allowed us all to stare into the void, to see far more clearly just how schools have long shouldered the burdens of a society that functions largely for the privileged, leaving the rest of our nation’s children and families to gather the crumbs of whatever remains. Current Issue View our current issue
The Privilege of Homeschooling
In the first weeks after schools closed across the country, as parents struggled to “homeschool” their children, memes, rants, tweets, and strongly-worded e-mails to school administrators popped up across the Internet. They expressed the frustrations of the moment. Those shared tales of the laughably insane trials and tribulations of parents trying to provide a reasonable facsimile of an education to kids sequestered at home, while still trying to work full time under the specter of a pandemic, amazed and depressed me.
Television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes tweeted, “Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week.” Rimes’s tweet seemed to encapsulate the absurd reality of life at home with kids in the time of the coronavirus. As I read her tweet, I laughed out loud and in utter solidarity with her. A teacher no less, I, too, was trying and failing spectacularly to oversee the “education” of an increasingly frustrated and resistant third-grader from home.
For those of us siloed in our privilege—healthy, with plenty of food stocked away in cupboards, quiet rooms with doors that shut, ample Internet access, and enough Wi-Fi-enabled devices to share among the members of our households—our quarantined home life is challenging, but not impossible. Our daily frustration continues to be a function of that privilege. For those without it, those who were already living in poverty or at its brink when the pandemic struck, homeschooling poses yet another crushing hurdle in life. How can you provide an education for your children when simply securing food, work, and shelter is your all-consuming reality?
Meanwhile, as exhausted parents screamed at school districts, teachers, and administrators on the Internet about providing virtual learning resources and online curricula to engage students during the school day, public school officials (at least in my world) were scrambling to deal with a far more immediate threat: kids going hungry. What this pandemic promptly revealed was that the most fundamental and urgent service schools provide to many children is simply feeding them.
The gravest and most immediate threat to our most vulnerable students was, and continues to be, hunger. If schools are closed, so is the critical infrastructure that helps keep our nation’s children fed. Aside from SNAP (the food stamp program), the National School Lunch Program is the largest anti-hunger initiative in the country. It feeds 29.7 million children on school days, with an additional 14.7 million children fed thanks to the School Breakfast Program and more than 6.1 million via the Child and Adult Care Food Program. And those numbers don’t even include the informal system of food distribution that teachers often provide students in their classrooms. On average, teachers spend upwards of 300 of their own dollars yearly providing food to students.
So, no wonder that, as soon as Covid-19 closed the doors of our schools, administrators, teachers, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and volunteers across the country mobilized on a large—and downright heroic—scale to attempt to keep those students fed. In the Beaverton school district where I teach, a “Grab and Go” curbside meal distribution program was quickly set up, making daily meals accessible to every student in the district. As economic conditions head for Great Depression–level misery, think of these as 2020 versions of the infamous breadlines of that era, only, in this case, they’re for children (and sometimes their families).
The responsibility for feeding students was not the only immediate concern. The adults in our school typically also serve as first responders for those students. We monitor their moods and listen to their stories. We notice when kids are struggling emotionally and, as mandatory reporters, step in when we suspect a child is living in a perilous or unsafe situation.
In the first weeks after we left our classrooms, calls to Oregon’s child abuse hotline dropped by more than half. Other states across the nation reported similar declines. The drop in calls has frightening implications. Coupled with increasing economic insecurity and social isolation, rising rates of child abuse are undoubtedly imminent. When teachers, counselors, and school social workers are no longer able to observe and communicate openly with students, signs of neglect or abuse are much more likely to go undetected and unreported.
The closure of our buildings also poses a huge barrier to the normal support of students struggling with mental health issues. Our children are already suffering from alarming rates of depression and anxiety. Isolating them from their friends, peers, mentors, caregivers, and teachers will only compound their mental-health challenges.
Trying to Bridge the Digital Divide
Add the surreal nature of an invisible foe to a lack of clear directives from both the federal and state government and you have a formula for problems. When we were finally instructed to leave our school, it was without advanced warning. In my classrooms, half-finished clay projects littered the countertops, while palettes loaded with acrylic paint and incomplete canvases were left to desiccate and gather dust on the shelves.
Students departed without cleaning out their lockers or often even gathering their schoolwork and books, not to speak of the supplies they’ll need to complete that work at home. And even though our students do have access to technology—three years ago, our district adopted a policy of providing a Chromebook to each student—it soon became apparent that there were huge obstacles to overcome in transforming our brick-and-mortar classrooms into virtual spaces. Many students had, for instance, broken or lost their Chromebooks. Some had missing chargers. And even many of those who had their Chromebooks with them at home had limited or no access to Wi-Fi connectivity.
Trying to reach all my students across that digital divide became the central focus of my waking hours. I made calls; I texted; I e-mailed; I posted announcements in my digital classroom stating that we’d be reconvening online. Still, none of these efforts mattered for the students stuck at home without Wi-Fi or lacking the necessary devices.
Before our nation’s schools closed, the Federal Communications Commission estimated that around 21 million people in America did not have broadband Internet access. According to data collected by Microsoft, however, the number who can’t access the Internet at broadband speeds is actually closer to 163 million. While districts across the country scrambled to provide mobile hotspots and working devices to students, teachers like me began the demoralizing and herculean task of scrapping years of thoughtfully crafted curriculums in order to provide an entirely new online learning experience. We stepped into our virtual classrooms with the knowledge that, no matter how many shiny new digital resources we have at our disposal, there’s nothing we can do to provide equitable access to education remotely.
And even if we were to solve such problems, we couldn’t offer the space or the support students need to learn. Kids living in cramped situations will struggle just to find a quiet place to attend our online classes. Those whose working parents suddenly need childcare for younger siblings have sometimes found themselves taking on the roll of primary caregivers.
Some students whose families were in ever more perilous economic situations increased their work hours and scrapped the idea of attending school altogether. And many of our English-as-a-second-language, or ESL, students, as well as the 14% of students nationally who require additional “learning supports,” are now in trouble. They’ve been left to navigate a complex web of digital platforms and new learning approaches without the individualized attention or frequent checks for understanding that they rely on from their teachers.
What virtual learning can never stand in for is the moment when a student leans over and asks me or a peer for help. That simple act of vulnerability that builds a bridge to another human being may be the most important moment in any classroom and now it’s gone. In Covid-19 America, when school kids need help most, they can’t simply lean over and ask for it.
The Time to Pivot
Today, I teach from my kitchen, my dining room, or the floor of my bedroom. I stare across the digital abyss into the pixelated faces of just a handful of students. It’s impossible to read their emotions or body language. Even when I unmute them, most choose not to speak.
Each day, fewer of them show up to class. Sometimes, students turn off their videos, and I speak only to a sea of black rectangles, the white text of the student’s name the sole indicator of his or her presence in my new classroom. Not surprisingly, our sessions together are stilted and awkward. I try to make jokes and connect, but it’s impossible to replicate online the intimacy of a face-to-face interaction. The magic of what was, of 25 to 40 students working cohesively in community, is lost.
And in the darkest hours of the early morning, when I wake with a start, crushing anxiety pushing on my chest, I think about all the third graders unable to participate in my daughter’s distance-learning classroom. I wonder about the students I’ve still been unable to reach—the ones who haven’t responded to my e-mails or completed any assignments, and whose faces I never see online. Where are they? How are they? I have no way of knowing.
Our world no longer looks the same. This pause, which has caused, and will continue to cause, so much suffering may also be a gift, offering a shift in perspective and a chance to pivot. Perhaps it’s a rare opportunity to acknowledge that our nation’s public schools should not be left so alone to provide food, mental health care, and digital connectivity for our nation’s children. That should be, in a fashion almost unimaginable in America today, the role of the larger society.
Now is not the time to be silent but to raise our voices, using any privilege we may have, be it in time, money, or simply access, to demand major changes both in how all of us think about our American world and in the systems that perpetuate such inhumane and unconscionable disparities for so many.
There is no way to continue putting yet more duct tape on that smashed bumper of a public education system that was already such a wreck before the coronavirus arrived on these shores. Nor is this the time to retreat into our silos, hoarding privilege along with toilet paper and hand sanitizer, too cowardly to demand more for all the children in this country. It’s time instead to reach out across the six feet of social-distancing space that now divides us all and demand more for those who aren’t able to demand it for themselves.


thenation--2020-05-12--The Media Is ‘Both-Sides’-ing the Coronavirus Disaster

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thenation--2020-05-12--Fight Mass Incarceration Amid the Pandemic

Unsanitary and overcrowded conditions in American prisons and jails have left these facilities ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic .
In a handful of facilities with high test rates , the majority of people tested positive , and many of the largest outbreaks in the country are in prisons and jails .
It ’ s crucial that we fight for the freedom of as many people as possible amid these lethal conditions .
This week ’ s Take Action Now gives you ways to fight for humane conditions in prisons and jails , demand the release of incarcerated people , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Take Action Now gives you three meaningful actions you can take each week whatever your schedule .
You can sign up here to get these actions and more in your inbox every Tuesday .
After outcry from advocates , people incarcerated in federal prisons have been granted free phone calls during the pandemic , but those at county jails , state prisons , and detention centers still have to pay up to $ 25 for a 15-minute phone call .
Tell your representatives and the Federal Communications Commission to make phone calls free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawmakers to support legislation in upcoming response packages to allocate resources to improve sanitary conditions in jails and prisons to reduce the spread of COVID-19 .
Since the start of the pandemic , state and local governments have taken meaningful steps to release people during the crisis , but there ’ s much more to be done .
First , check out Prison Policy Initiative ’ s list of government responses to the coronavirus in prisons and jails to learn more about what ’ s already happening across the country .
Then ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which would create a sentence review procedure for people serving sentences longer than 10 years in prison .
Donate to National Bail Out to help bail out black mothers and caregivers this month in honor of mothers day .
People being detained in immigrant jails face some of the highest risk during the coronavirus pandemic .
Watch some of Detention Watch Network ’ s educational videos to learn more about the threats facing these communities .
Check out the organization ’ s # FreeThemAll toolkit to learn how you can get involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in ICE custody from the local to the national level .
Scroll down to find petitions from across the country to sign and share .
Learn how to target local decision-makers , and prepare your community to welcome people being released .

Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every Tuesday.
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Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every Tuesday.
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Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every Tuesday.
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Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Unsanitary and overcrowded conditions in American prisons and jails have left these facilities ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. In a handful of facilities with high test rates, the majority of people tested positive, and many of the largest outbreaks in the country are in prisons and jails. It’s crucial that we fight for the freedom of as many people as possible amid these lethal conditions.
This week’s Take Action Now gives you ways to fight for humane conditions in prisons and jails, demand the release of incarcerated people, and support people who have been released.
Take Action Now gives you three meaningful actions you can take each week whatever your schedule. You can sign up here to get these actions and more in your inbox every Tuesday.
NO TIME TO SPARE?
After outcry from advocates, people incarcerated in federal prisons have been granted free phone calls during the pandemic, but those at county jails, state prisons, and detention centers still have to pay up to $25 for a 15-minute phone call. Tell your representatives and the Federal Communications Commission to make phone calls free at all facilities. Then tell your lawmakers to support legislation in upcoming response packages to allocate resources to improve sanitary conditions in jails and prisons to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
GOT SOME TIME?
Since the start of the pandemic, state and local governments have taken meaningful steps to release people during the crisis, but there’s much more to be done. First, check out Prison Policy Initiative’s list of government responses to the coronavirus in prisons and jails to learn more about what’s already happening across the country. Then ask Congress to support the Second Look Act, which would create a sentence review procedure for people serving sentences longer than 10 years in prison. Donate to National Bail Out to help bail out black mothers and caregivers this month in honor of mothers day.
READY TO DIG IN?
People being detained in immigrant jails face some of the highest risk during the coronavirus pandemic. Watch some of Detention Watch Network’s educational videos to learn more about the threats facing these communities. Check out the organization’s #FreeThemAll toolkit to learn how you can get involved in the fight for mass release of people in ICE custody from the local to the national level. Scroll down to find petitions from across the country to sign and share. Learn how to target local decision-makers, and prepare your community to welcome people being released.


thenation--2020-05-12--The Ingenuity Keeping Indie Bookstores Going

EDITOR ’ S NOTE : The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service .
For that reason , this article , and all of our coronavirus coverage , is now free .
Please subscribe to support our writers and staff , and stay healthy .
Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel ’ s column at the WashingtonPost.com .
Read the full text of Katrina ’ s column here .
For nearly half a century , Charis Books was a fixture of Atlanta ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuccoed building served as a gathering place for feminist readers to browse , congregate , and participate in a litany of events .
Before and after the bookstore ’ s recent move to Agnes Scott College , residents from across the city have relied on Charis Circle , its nonprofit arm , to access everything from homeless shelters to legal assistance .
In the wake of the pandemic , Charis Books has been forced to close its brick-and-mortar operation .
Its owners are relying on online orders , gift-certificate sales , and donations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff and operating both the business and nonprofit .
So many independent bookstores are in a similar bind .
Literary hubs such as the Strand in New York and Powell ’ s Books in Portland , Ore. , had to lay off employees ; others like City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco and Marcus Books in Oakland , Calif. , are relying on crowdfunding campaigns to stay afloat .
It ’ s not for a lack of demand .
These past few months have seen a surge of interest in books .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are being siphoned to Amazon .
The corporate behemoth , launched as “ Earth ’ s Biggest Bookstore ” in 1995 , has dominated the book industry for years .
Today , Amazon owns its own publishing unit , literary social platform , and line of e-readers .
( And Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos own The Washington Post . )
The retailer accounts for more than half of all book sales in the United States , and some have projected that share to grow to 70 percent , based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Read the full text of Katrina ’ s column here .

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy. Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.
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For nearly half a century, Charis Books was a fixture of Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood. The stuccoed building served as a gathering place for feminist readers to browse, congregate, and participate in a litany of events. Before and after the bookstore’s recent move to Agnes Scott College, residents from across the city have relied on Charis Circle, its nonprofit arm, to access everything from homeless shelters to legal assistance.
In the wake of the pandemic, Charis Books has been forced to close its brick-and-mortar operation. Its owners are relying on online orders, gift-certificate sales, and donations to their nonprofit to continue paying their staff and operating both the business and nonprofit. So many independent bookstores are in a similar bind. Literary hubs such as the Strand in New York and Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., had to lay off employees; others like City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco and Marcus Books in Oakland, Calif., are relying on crowdfunding campaigns to stay afloat.
It’s not for a lack of demand. These past few months have seen a surge of interest in books. But the profits, by and large, are being siphoned to Amazon. The corporate behemoth, launched as “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore” in 1995, has dominated the book industry for years. Today, Amazon owns its own publishing unit, literary social platform, and line of e-readers. (And Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos own The Washington Post.) The retailer accounts for more than half of all book sales in the United States, and some have projected that share to grow to 70 percent, based on Amazon’s performance in April.
Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.


thenation--2020-05-12--Journalism Cannot Be a Covid-19 Casualty

There is no freedom of the press without the press .
And the press is threatened , as never before , by the coronavirus pandemic .
Already struggling before the virus hit and the economy shut down , local media has been rocked so hard over the past two months that the Poynter Institute for Media Studies reports , “ It ’ s getting hard to keep track of the bad news about the news right now.
” The research arm of the journalism group has been trying , however—maintaining an ever-expanding list of the thousands of journalism jobs that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wave of closings , cutbacks , layoffs , firings , furloughs , and general downsizing that has gutted print , digital , and broadcast newsrooms .
According to a New York Times survey , roughly 36,000 media workers in the United States have been laid off , furloughed , or seen their pay reduced .
“ Hunger for news in a time of crisis has sent droves of readers to many publications , ” explained Times .
“ But with businesses paused or closed—and no longer willing or able to pay for advertisements—a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support system has cracked.
” Journalism can not survive , and certainly not thrive , without resources .
And those resources are not coming from a “ free market ” that has stalled out .
There has to be a federal fix , and that means that Congress must include muscular support for journalism in stimulus measures .
The Labor Department Is Sacrificing Workers on the Altar of ‘ Reopening ’ Bernie Sanders Reflects on the Power of International Solidarity “ Local media is a critical source of news and information for communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plays an important role in our civic engagement , ” argues former member of the Federal Communications Commission Michael Copps , who now counsels Common Cause on media issues .
“ But the health crisis our nation faces combined with the long-term decline in local news has left many communities without adequate sources of trustworthy news on the pandemic and has created a void in civic information .
Congress must act now to ensure local news is adequately funded in order to meet the information needs of communities.
” More and more members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of our nation ’ s most challenging times , the public turns to free and local media for life-saving information and breaking news , because local radio , television and newspapers are still the most trusted sources in times of emergency and disaster , ” 240 House members wrote in a bipartisan letter sent last month to the Trump administration .
“ We urge you work with us in ensuring that local media can continue to inform communities , even as these outlets face unprecedented economic distress.
” Senator Sherrod Brown joined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 8 letter asking “ that any future coronavirus stimulus package contain funding to support local journalism and media.
” Without this support , the senators wrote , “ communities across the country risk losing one of their key sources of accurate information about what citizens need to know and do in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
” The key , explained Brown when I spoke to him recently , is an understanding of the need to shore up local media .
One-size-fits-all reports from New York or Washington are insufficient in a crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need “ the most up-to-date information on what resources are available in their communities as well as how to stay safe and protect their neighbors.
” The federal government has a long history of providing support for diverse and independent local media , going back to the founding days of the republic—a subject Robert W. McChesney and I explored at length in our 2010 book , The Death and Life of American Journalism : The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again .
But the current crisis is so extreme and coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attention that draws on existing proposals for sustaining journalism , as well as new ones .
Free Press Action , the media reform group with which McChesney and I have long been associated , has come up with a plan that pulls together a host of immediate and longer-term policy recommendations that , if adopted by Congress , could go a long way toward saving local journalism .
It would , as well , preserve and extend employment for tens of thousands of reporters during the current crisis and in the future .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s recommendations .
First , they focus on sustaining journalism , rather than bailouts for the big media companies—and hedge-fund investors—that were making a mess of things even before the pandemic hit .
Second , they bring realism and precision to a discussion that to this point has lacked clarity .
“ To get through this emergency , ” asserts Craig Aaron , who is president of Free Press and Free Press Action , “ we need trustworthy news and reporters on the beat .
Wishful thinking about new business models or philanthropy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order to build “ a bridge from this emergency period to a future of sustainable journalism that serves and represents local communities , especially Black and Latinx communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the current crisis and poorly served by dominant media , ” the group ’ s recommendations emphasize “ keeping communities informed , and…protecting and promoting newsrooms and reporting jobs—not broadcasters , newspaper companies or any single industry.
” At the heart of “ What a Journalism-Recovery Package Should Look Like During the COVID-19 Crisis , ” the agenda being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a proposal for direct emergency payments “ to keep reporters at their desks and on the beat.
” Any newsroom publishing local news could qualify for the plan , which would : ● Provide approximately $ 1.5 billion in Emergency Stabilization Grants to local-news organizations at $ 50,000 per newsroom position ( reporters , editors , producers , etc . )
at eligible outlets .
This would cover 30,000 newsroom jobs .
● Direct this money toward newsroom workers : The funds must be devoted to employees and to maintaining payroll and benefits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but recipients must spend the money locally , direct the money to newsroom jobs , and be prohibited from using funds for the purchase of securities , dividend payments , executive compensation , debt service , mergers and acquisitions , etc .
● Distribute these funds via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ( CPB ) , expanding its mission and giving it the authority to do so .
● Establish accountability and transparency measures to track how the money is spent and to build firewalls to prevent the government from interfering in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Free Press Action plan also recommends news-outlet tax credits to retain and boost the number of newsroom jobs , increased public-media funding , accelerated federal ad buying , as suggested by the House members in their letter , and “ a First Amendment Fund , which could be sustained by levying a small tax on targeted online-advertising revenues in the United States.
” In addition , the group wants to help sustain journalism with increased funding for libraries to purchase digital subscriptions , tax credits for individual paid subscriptions to news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mergers , a plan to forgive student loans for working journalists , and a proposals to use the AmeriCorps model to keep reporters and editors in newsrooms .
These are concrete steps that recognize the reality that , as Nora Benavidez , PEN America ’ s director of US free expression , explained several weeks ago , “ local news is not a luxury , it is a public good .
”

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There is no freedom of the press without the press. And the press is threatened, as never before, by the coronavirus pandemic.
Already struggling before the virus hit and the economy shut down, local media has been rocked so hard over the past two months that the Poynter Institute for Media Studies reports, “It’s getting hard to keep track of the bad news about the news right now.” The research arm of the journalism group has been trying, however—maintaining an ever-expanding list of the thousands of journalism jobs that have been lost or diminished in a wave of closings, cutbacks, layoffs, firings, furloughs, and general downsizing that has gutted print, digital, and broadcast newsrooms. According to a New York Times survey, roughly 36,000 media workers in the United States have been laid off, furloughed, or seen their pay reduced. “Hunger for news in a time of crisis has sent droves of readers to many publications,” explained Times. “But with businesses paused or closed—and no longer willing or able to pay for advertisements—a crucial part of the industry’s support system has cracked.”
It’s not cracked. It’s broken.
Journalism cannot survive, and certainly not thrive, without resources. And those resources are not coming from a “free market” that has stalled out. There has to be a federal fix, and that means that Congress must include muscular support for journalism in stimulus measures. More From John Nichols A GOP Debate Without Trump Is the Definition of Pointlessness August 11, 2023 A Win for Abortion Rights, a Win for Democracy: Ohio Voters Reject Issue 1 August 9, 2023 The Biggest Threat to Donald Trump Could Be the Constitution Itself August 4, 2023
“Local media is a critical source of news and information for communities, holds our government accountable, and plays an important role in our civic engagement,” argues former member of the Federal Communications Commission Michael Copps, who now counsels Common Cause on media issues. “But the health crisis our nation faces combined with the long-term decline in local news has left many communities without adequate sources of trustworthy news on the pandemic and has created a void in civic information. Congress must act now to ensure local news is adequately funded in order to meet the information needs of communities.”
More and more members of Congress agree. “As in many of our nation’s most challenging times, the public turns to free and local media for life-saving information and breaking news, because local radio, television and newspapers are still the most trusted sources in times of emergency and disaster,” 240 House members wrote in a bipartisan letter sent last month to the Trump administration. “We urge you work with us in ensuring that local media can continue to inform communities, even as these outlets face unprecedented economic distress.” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Senator Sherrod Brown joined 18 other senators in signing an April 8 letter asking “that any future coronavirus stimulus package contain funding to support local journalism and media.” Without this support, the senators wrote, “communities across the country risk losing one of their key sources of accurate information about what citizens need to know and do in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Current Issue View our current issue
The key, explained Brown when I spoke to him recently, is an understanding of the need to shore up local media. One-size-fits-all reports from New York or Washington are insufficient in a crisis where, the senator says, people need “the most up-to-date information on what resources are available in their communities as well as how to stay safe and protect their neighbors.”
The federal government has a long history of providing support for diverse and independent local media, going back to the founding days of the republic—a subject Robert W. McChesney and I explored at length in our 2010 book, The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again. But the current crisis is so extreme and coming on so rapidly that it requires immediate attention that draws on existing proposals for sustaining journalism, as well as new ones.
Free Press Action, the media reform group with which McChesney and I have long been associated, has come up with a plan that pulls together a host of immediate and longer-term policy recommendations that, if adopted by Congress, could go a long way toward saving local journalism. It would, as well, preserve and extend employment for tens of thousands of reporters during the current crisis and in the future. Two things distinguish Free Press Action’s recommendations. First, they focus on sustaining journalism, rather than bailouts for the big media companies—and hedge-fund investors—that were making a mess of things even before the pandemic hit. Second, they bring realism and precision to a discussion that to this point has lacked clarity. Save Journalism Want to Fight Covid-19? Save Local Journalism. John Nichols
“To get through this emergency,” asserts Craig Aaron, who is president of Free Press and Free Press Action, “we need trustworthy news and reporters on the beat. Wishful thinking about new business models or philanthropy won’t be enough.”
In order to build “a bridge from this emergency period to a future of sustainable journalism that serves and represents local communities, especially Black and Latinx communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the current crisis and poorly served by dominant media,” the group’s recommendations emphasize “keeping communities informed, and…protecting and promoting newsrooms and reporting jobs—not broadcasters, newspaper companies or any single industry.”
At the heart of “What a Journalism-Recovery Package Should Look Like During the COVID-19 Crisis,” the agenda being advanced by Free Press Action, is a proposal for direct emergency payments “to keep reporters at their desks and on the beat.” Any newsroom publishing local news could qualify for the plan, which would:
● Provide approximately $1.5 billion in Emergency Stabilization Grants to local-news organizations at $50,000 per newsroom position (reporters, editors, producers, etc.) at eligible outlets. This would cover 30,000 newsroom jobs.
● Direct this money toward newsroom workers: The funds must be devoted to employees and to maintaining payroll and benefits. Any local-news company could be eligible, but recipients must spend the money locally, direct the money to newsroom jobs, and be prohibited from using funds for the purchase of securities, dividend payments, executive compensation, debt service, mergers and acquisitions, etc.
● Distribute these funds via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), expanding its mission and giving it the authority to do so.
● Establish accountability and transparency measures to track how the money is spent and to build firewalls to prevent the government from interfering in content production or impeding First Amendment activities.
The Free Press Action plan also recommends news-outlet tax credits to retain and boost the number of newsroom jobs, increased public-media funding, accelerated federal ad buying, as suggested by the House members in their letter, and “a First Amendment Fund, which could be sustained by levying a small tax on targeted online-advertising revenues in the United States.”
In addition, the group wants to help sustain journalism with increased funding for libraries to purchase digital subscriptions, tax credits for individual paid subscriptions to news outlets, a national moratorium on media mergers, a plan to forgive student loans for working journalists, and a proposals to use the AmeriCorps model to keep reporters and editors in newsrooms.
These are concrete steps that recognize the reality that, as Nora Benavidez, PEN America’s director of US free expression, explained several weeks ago, “local news is not a luxury, it is a public good.”


thenation--2020-05-13--The Covid-19 Stimulus Debate Is a Pivotal Climate Story

This article is adapted from “ The Climate Beat , ” the weekly newsletter of Covering Climate Now , a global journalism initiative committed to more and better climate coverage .
“ Pick any world-shaking event from 20th century history—none has produced a bigger decrease in [ heat-trapping ] emissions ” than this year ’ s coronavirus , wrote Laura Millan Lombrana and Haley Warren in a May 7 article for Bloomberg Green .
Normally , plummeting emissions would be good climate news .
But in this case , emissions fell because of a pandemic that has killed a reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced economies around the world into lockdown , driving unemployment to heights not seen since the Great Depression .
In the coming weeks and months , countries will debate how to restore some semblance of normal economic life .
The question is whether they will do it without endangering the planet in the process .
Journalists will be tracking what figures to be a titanic struggle pitting science against politics and champions of climate-smart economics against defenders of the status quo .
And the outcome will be shaped in part by whether news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , clarity , and urgency it demands .
Because of the pandemic shutdown , annual carbon dioxide emissions will fall by about 8 percent in 2020 , projects the International Energy Agency .
As it happens , 8 percent is roughly how much emissions must fall each year during the next decade to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius , the aspirational goal of the Paris Agreement .
If temperature rise instead reaches 2 degrees C , the resulting additional heat waves , droughts , fires , storms , and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life .
“ Hundreds of millions—or even billions—of people will run short of food , ” science writer Mark Lynas explains in his new book , Our Final Warning .
Meanwhile , Lynas writes , the climate system ’ s feedback mechanisms—such as faster melting of permafrost and polar ice—will make further temperature rise and harsher impacts inevitable .
Of course , it ’ s neither desirable nor feasible to keep economies on permanent lockdown in the name of climate stability .
Which may explain why variations of a Green New Deal , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , are garnering support from more and more pillars of the establishment .
The European Union , the International Monetary Fund , the mayors of 33 of the world ’ s biggest cities , the leaders of Europe ’ s two biggest economies , Germany and France , a coalition of investors who manage more than $ 32 trillion worth of assets—these are just some of the voices arguing that the government stimulus programs being devised to revive pandemic-stricken economies must be green .
Want to Slow the Climate Crisis ?
Don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this series Covid-19 recovery programs “ should not be a return to ‘ business as usual ’ —because that is a world on track for more than 3 degrees C of overheating , ” warned a statement by the mayors of New York , Los Angeles , London , Paris , São Paulo , Seoul , and 27 other cities with a combined population of 750 million people .
Mark Carney , the former governor of the Bank of England , has argued that instead of ploughing trillions of dollars into fossil fuel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should try to leapfrog ahead ” by investing in solar and wind power and emulating the UK government ’ s plan to phase out gasoline and diesel engine cars by 2035 .
A study led by Nicholas Stern , former chief economist at The World Bank , and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University found that green stimulus programs outperform their opposites .
The economists ’ examination of more than 700 stimulus programs launched after the 2008 global financial crisis found that investing in energy efficiency—for example , by retrofitting buildings—and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monetary returns than traditional stimulus programs .
Such approaches are bound to encounter fierce resistance , however .
In the US , the Trump administration and its Republican allies on Capitol Hill have contempt for anything resembling a Green New Deal ; instead , they are aiding the fossil fuel industry and other heavy polluters through financial subsidies and regulatory rollbacks .
China , the world ’ s other climate superpower , appears to have stalled once-promising efforts toward a green transition , instead prioritizing immediate factory reopenings .
In Europe , industrial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and prevent bankruptcies by easing environmental policies .
“ Every day , letters from powerful industrial organizations , from cement to plastic to the car industry , arrive in the Commission saying that we need relief on standards for emissions , on regulations , ” Stefan Lehne , a former Commission official , told The New York Times .
As events unfold , the political and electoral dimensions of this story will require careful attention , as will the costs and benefits of the various policies for ordinary people .
The best reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including the imperative of keeping global warming “ well below ” 2º C , per the Paris Agreement .
And there will be surprises .
Who would have expected at a time of rising coronavirus death tolls that 71 percent of adults think that climate change is as serious a crisis as Covid-19 is in the long term ?
That ’ s according to an Ipsos poll of 28,000 people in 14 countries that also found that 65 percent of the public wants governments to “ prioritize climate change in the economic recovery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate progress .
They need journalism that equips them to follow the action—and make their own voices heard—before it ’ s too late .

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This article is adapted from “The Climate Beat,” the weekly newsletter of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism initiative committed to more and better climate coverage.
“Pick any world-shaking event from 20th century history—none has produced a bigger decrease in [heat-trapping] emissions” than this year’s coronavirus, wrote Laura Millan Lombrana and Haley Warren in a May 7 article for Bloomberg Green. Normally, plummeting emissions would be good climate news. But in this case, emissions fell because of a pandemic that has killed a reported 280,000 people (and counting) and forced economies around the world into lockdown, driving unemployment to heights not seen since the Great Depression. In the coming weeks and months, countries will debate how to restore some semblance of normal economic life. The question is whether they will do it without endangering the planet in the process. Journalists will be tracking what figures to be a titanic struggle pitting science against politics and champions of climate-smart economics against defenders of the status quo. And the outcome will be shaped in part by whether news outlets can give this story the prominence, clarity, and urgency it demands.
Because of the pandemic shutdown, annual carbon dioxide emissions will fall by about 8 percent in 2020, projects the International Energy Agency. As it happens, 8 percent is roughly how much emissions must fall each year during the next decade to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the aspirational goal of the Paris Agreement. If temperature rise instead reaches 2 degrees C, the resulting additional heat waves, droughts, fires, storms, and other climate impacts will cause massive loss of life. “Hundreds of millions—or even billions—of people will run short of food,” science writer Mark Lynas explains in his new book, Our Final Warning. Meanwhile, Lynas writes, the climate system’s feedback mechanisms—such as faster melting of permafrost and polar ice—will make further temperature rise and harsher impacts inevitable. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Of course, it’s neither desirable nor feasible to keep economies on permanent lockdown in the name of climate stability. Which may explain why variations of a Green New Deal, an idea first pressed by climate activists, are garnering support from more and more pillars of the establishment. The European Union, the International Monetary Fund, the mayors of 33 of the world’s biggest cities, the leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies, Germany and France, a coalition of investors who manage more than $32 trillion worth of assets—these are just some of the voices arguing that the government stimulus programs being devised to revive pandemic-stricken economies must be green. Covering Climate Now How to Stop the Spread of Climate Disinformation Erika Seiber and Michael Khoo A Soundtrack for the Climate Emergency Mark Hertsgaard Can Gen Z Save the Midterms for Democrats? Mark Hertsgaard
Covid-19 recovery programs “should not be a return to ‘business as usual’—because that is a world on track for more than 3 degrees C of overheating,” warned a statement by the mayors of New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, São Paulo, Seoul, and 27 other cities with a combined population of 750 million people. Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, has argued that instead of ploughing trillions of dollars into fossil fuel energy sources and infrastructure, countries “should try to leapfrog ahead” by investing in solar and wind power and emulating the UK government’s plan to phase out gasoline and diesel engine cars by 2035. A study led by Nicholas Stern, former chief economist at The World Bank, and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University found that green stimulus programs outperform their opposites. The economists’ examination of more than 700 stimulus programs launched after the 2008 global financial crisis found that investing in energy efficiency—for example, by retrofitting buildings—and renewable energy yielded more jobs and higher monetary returns than traditional stimulus programs.
Such approaches are bound to encounter fierce resistance, however. In the US, the Trump administration and its Republican allies on Capitol Hill have contempt for anything resembling a Green New Deal; instead, they are aiding the fossil fuel industry and other heavy polluters through financial subsidies and regulatory rollbacks. China, the world’s other climate superpower, appears to have stalled once-promising efforts toward a green transition, instead prioritizing immediate factory reopenings. In Europe, industrial interests are pressuring governments to save jobs and prevent bankruptcies by easing environmental policies. “Every day, letters from powerful industrial organizations, from cement to plastic to the car industry, arrive in the Commission saying that we need relief on standards for emissions, on regulations,” Stefan Lehne, a former Commission official, told The New York Times.
As events unfold, the political and electoral dimensions of this story will require careful attention, as will the costs and benefits of the various policies for ordinary people. The best reporting will demonstrate command of the science, including the imperative of keeping global warming “well below” 2º C, per the Paris Agreement. And there will be surprises. Who would have expected at a time of rising coronavirus death tolls that 71 percent of adults think that climate change is as serious a crisis as Covid-19 is in the long term? That’s according to an Ipsos poll of 28,000 people in 14 countries that also found that 65 percent of the public wants governments to “prioritize climate change in the economic recovery after COVID-19.” People are hungry for climate progress. They need journalism that equips them to follow the action—and make their own voices heard—before it’s too late.