The Open Markets Institute and the Tow Center at Columbia School of Journalism convened a wide-ranging conference in Washington, on June 12, 2018. The immediate goal of the event was to better understand the nature, scope, and sources of the threat to America’s free press and to the American right of free expression. The second, equally important goal of this conference is to help citizens understand that Americans have faced similar challenges before, with the rise of then-revolutionary new technologies such as the telegraph in the 19th century and of radio and television in the 20th Century.

The purpose of this discussion paper is to reconnect us, at least briefly, with that past, to help us determine which tools to use to address today’s challenges. What the paper shows, we believe, is that the history of American journalism is one of ceaseless private initiative and innovation, as individual citizens strive to figure out better ways and smarter business models to a) keep a check on government and private power, b) inform citizens, and specific communities within society, of the basic events and challenges of the day, and c) pay the costs of reporting, editing, and distributing the news.

Read our discussion paper here.