The View From My Windshield: Free Speech Zone

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America's Best Idea: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee—Who drives halfway through the Smoky Mountains to protest government spending or raise awareness of the coming apocalypse? Apparently no one—at least not for the hour I spent in the "Expression Area."America’s Best Idea: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee—Who drives halfway through the Smoky Mountains to protest government spending or raise awareness of the coming apocalypse? Maybe no one—the “Expression Area” was largely devoid of expressions for the hour I spent there, save for hundreds of sightseers snapping photos, and innocent questions about whether the Smokies are actually “on fire” (they’e not).

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Owned by no one—except you.

We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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