Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
1.5.2
Newsjunkie.net is a resource guide for journalists. We show who's behind the news, and provide tools to help navigate the modern business of information.
Use of Data
1.5.2
1.5.2
Yes, it can happen here.
In 1935, Sinclair Lewis published It Can’t Happen Here, a dystopian novel about the rise of an American fascist dictator and the newspaper editor who relentlessly dogs him to expose the truth. Like the novel’s hero, we must recognize the moment our nation is in. We must face it as it is and fight to defend democracy while we still can.
Democracy is not unbreakable.
The day after Trump’s inauguration, the White House website removed the Constitution. A blue 404 error page replaced it. Within hours, reproductiverights.gov vanished, followed by the Spanish-language translations available under the Biden administration. This is a familiar pattern. The erasure of information is a control tactic.
Gretchen Gerke saw this coming. Having witnessed the systematic erasure of environmental websites and tools during the first Trump administration, she and her team at EDGI prepared for the worst. The CEJST is a complex tool that is difficult to recreate and connects non-experts to actionable data. When the tool was taken down within days of Trump assuming office, EDGI acted just as quickly, immediately restoring public access.
“Elective tools like CEJST (White House Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool), built under Biden’s executive order, are likely to be removed. These tools and applications that help people interact with data in a more user-friendly way, those could be on the chopping block.” (Adapted) | ||
–Gretchen Gehrke, environmental chemist and EDGI member EDGI's Gretchen Gehrke on the future of public climate science |
We are not powerless.
Despite abuse by federal authorities to curtail access to publicly-funded research, independent organizations and individuals have stepped into the breach.
Last month, Newsjunkie joined the Internet Archive's End-of-Term (EOT) campaign, racing to nominate critical government-funded data for preservation. Last Wednesday, the number of archived URLs stood at 8,121. Just one week later, that number has grown to 10,610 and continues to rise.
“The web itself is a constantly changing ecosystem…a space managed through URLs that don’t predictably reflect changes. That mechanism doesn’t exist for the general web. Ergo, the Wayback Machine.” (Adapted) | ||
–Mark Graham, Director of the Wayback Machine |
What You Can Do
The Constitution may not be accessible on whitehouse.gov, but it's here at Internet Archive, and its principles remain. When a government fails to serve its people, the people must act.
Nominate at-risk URLs for inclusion in the End-of-Term Archive, here.
Engage with the campaign on social media. Talk about it, share updates, and interact with the work of fellow EOT members.
Follow our coverage. Stay updated through Newsjunkie’s EOT blog series and daily updates on Twitter/X.
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Take action now.
In advance, thank you.
Talla Khattat, editor, and the Team