“The model is simple,” declared The Atlantic in its cover story for the November 2021 issue. “Gut the staff, sell the real estate, jack up subscription prices, and wring out as much cash as possible.” The author of the piece, Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins, was writing about Alden Global Capital LLC, the widely-feared buyout…
Illinois became the first state to ban the removal of books from school and public libraries this summer. But in Missouri, school officials are taking titles off of the shelves now more than ever. The actions from the neighboring states illustrate the increasing power of organized activists and politicians to implement broad legislation. In some…
A hearing that could either strengthen or upend the defamation case by two Georgia poll workers against The Gateway Pundit, the far-right website operated by St. Louisan Jim Hoft, is scheduled for July 13 in St. Louis Circuit Court. St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer is set to hear the plaintiffs’ request to dismiss a…
The point of the First Amendment is to protect expression people hate – Nazi protesters in Skokie, anti-war protesters burning the American flag, KKK hooligans in an Ohio farmfield, Christian fundamentalists protesting the burial of American soldiers. Tolerance for the speech we despise is the lesson of 232 years of the First Amendment. Yet the…
For decades the Missouri legislature has been at odds with the will of the people on a host of major issues. Legislators are unfazed. In this year’s session in Jefferson City, lawmakers seem determined to codify their disdain for grassroots democracy. Legislators have introduced a slew of proposals to effectively end state voters’ use of…