Content:

Join us in-store to discuss Shealeigh Voitl's new book, State of the Free Press 2026, with Steve Macek leading the conversation.

About the Book:
This year’s book reveals the 12 most important but under-reported stories of the past year, and shares critical analysis of major media events. State of the Free Press 2026 (The Censored Press, November 11, 2025, Paperback) includes reporting on ICE surveillance, Meta censorship, police violence, and much more. With this volume, Project Censored marks fifty years at the forefront of critical media literacy education and free press anti-censorship advocacy.

In their introduction to State of the Free Press 2026, editors Shealeigh Voitl, Andy Lee Roth, and Mickey Huff address the siege on public knowledge in the age of Trump 2.0, envisioning an interconnected and imaginative resistance to censorship. Balancing critical analysis with optimistic vision, the volume’s diverse contributors champion press freedom and critical media literacy as essential tools to empower individuals and unite communities in the battles to hold the powerful accountable and to defend democracy from authoritarian assaults.

About the Author:
SHEALEIGH VOITL is Project Censored’s associate director. She first began her research with the Project at North Central College alongside Steve Macek, co-authoring the “Déjá Vu News” chapter in the State of the Free Press 2022 and 2023 as well as the Top 25 chapter in SFP 2023. In addition to her editorial contributions to the yearbook series and work with the Campus Affiliates Program, Shealeigh helped develop the State of the Free Press 2024 teaching guide, “Beyond Fact-Checking: A Teaching Guide to the Power of News Frames,” and the Project’s YouTube series “Frame-Check.” Her writing has also been featured in Truthout, The Progressive, and Ms. Magazine. Shealeigh lives in Chicago, Illinois.