Press On South

Background

In January 2020, Press On was established as a charitable advocacy organization in Atlanta, Georgia under the name Press On South Inc. ² However, as of 2025, the organization identifies itself as Press On. ³

In its social media posts, Press On promotes an advocacy strategy for left-of-center critical race theory-aligned ideas through activist journalism. For instance, in an October 10, 2025 post on Instagram outlining its values, the organization notes that it believes in journalism “driven” by people who are empowering “oppressed” communities, and that through its work, the organization honors and takes part in the activism of the Black, native, and transgender, communities, as well as, more generally, all Southerners who are allegedly “systematically oppressed.” ¹

Activity

Press On operates a variety of media and activist training programs aimed at cultivating connections between journalists, activists, and others in media with left-of-center movements, including Level Up, an educational program that trains journalists and local media professionals in the use of analysis and various tools; the Freedomways Reporting Fellowship, a fellowship program that trains participants in the principles of left-of-center movement-aligned journalism and organizing in the southeastern United States; and the Southern Movement Media Fund, a grantmaking program that allots grants to individuals and organizations involved in aligned-left-of-center movements. ³

Grants

Press On has given grants to a variety of aligned left-of-center organizations, including TransGriot, the Southern Movement Committee, EspicyNipples, Black in Appalachia, Descendants of Elaine Massacre, and Community Movement Builders. ⁴

Funding

Press On has used crowd-funding to raise money. A fundraiser on the platform Give Butter started by the organization’s board chair Tina Vasquez initiated in May 2025 had, as of November 29, 2025, raised $20,559. ⁵

Leadership

Tina Vasquez is the chair of Press On’s board of directors. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at the left-of-center The Counter (previously known as the Institute for the New Food Economy), where she reported on immigration, and she was a 2021 McGraw Center fellow reporting on labor issues with migrant farmworkers. ^{6 4}

Coral Feigin is the director of Press On as well as an organizer with both Critical Resistance Oakland as well as the Regional Advocacy Project. ^{7 8 4}

Hannah Hassan is the secretary of Press On’s board of directors. Previously, she was a resident storyteller for QC Family Tree and the co-founder of Epoch Tribe, a left-of-center activist narrative-media platform. ^{9 4}

Anita Varma is a member of Press On’s board of directors, as well as an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin, a senior faculty research associate and leader of the Solidarity Journalism Initiative at the Center for Media Engagement, and a board member of The Objective. Previously, she was the chair of the Media Ethics Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, board member of the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, an assistant director of Journalism and Media Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, and a visiting lecturer at the University of California Berkeley’s School of Journalism. ¹⁰

Lisa Armstrong is a member of Press On’s board of directors as well as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Previously, she was a Knight-Wallace reporting fellow with the Wallace House Center for Journalists, a fellow in writing with United States Artists, and a justice reporting fellow with the John Jay/Langeloth Foundation Fellowship on Reinventing Solitary Confinement. ^{11 4}