... ... Surprise, surprise. This article emphasizes the effort to save local news, in somewhat the same structure it currently has. However, as the changes to journalism and news are a critical...
According to a 2022 report from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, the US continues to lose newspapers “at a rate of two per week”, contributing to the growing crisis of “news deserts”, communities without dedicated news coverage. Research has shown new deserts lead to a less informed and engaged voter base. A 2018 study from the University of North Carolina found 1,800 local newspapers had shuttered in the US since 2004.
A major contributing factor to news deserts are the financial firms and hedge funds, like Alden Global Capital, buying up newspapers and slashing staff, and who have been widely accused of being more concerned about profits than journalistic integrity.
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Steven Waldman, co-founder of Report for America, said a new initiative, called Rebuild Local News, wanted to revitalize hundreds of local news outlets across America decimated by changes in the industry, shifts in the sector’s advertising revenue structure and more recently, the pandemic.
The Rebuild Local News coalition is pushing for a comprehensive list of tax credits to keep afloat local newsrooms, such as a tax refund for local news digital subscribers, payroll tax credits for hiring and retaining local reporters, and a tax credit for small businesses to advertise in local news outlets.
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Rebuild Local News’s original aim was to get sweeping legislation to protect local journalism passed at the national level, but Waldman said the new Republican-majority congress makes that an unlikely reality given the party’s hostility to the mainstream media.
Surprise, surprise.
Instead, the organization is pivoting to focus on getting legislation passed in as many states as possible.
This article emphasizes the effort to save local news, in somewhat the same structure it currently has. However, as the changes to journalism and news are a critical issue to democracy, there have been many efforts looking at the problem from different angles. Another approach, yielding what is called The Roadmap for Local News, proposes that we think about transforming traditional local news into a concept called Civic Information or Civic Media. A quote from that website:
People need information to participate in civic life, to figure out who to vote for, how to speak up at school board meetings, how to run for local office, where to find vaccines, when to organize for change, and more. From daily reporting that equips people to act, to investigations that reveal corruption, to stories that connect us to our neighbors, the health of local news is directly linked to the health of our democracy.
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Surprise, surprise.
This article emphasizes the effort to save local news, in somewhat the same structure it currently has. However, as the changes to journalism and news are a critical issue to democracy, there have been many efforts looking at the problem from different angles. Another approach, yielding what is called The Roadmap for Local News, proposes that we think about transforming traditional local news into a concept called Civic Information or Civic Media. A quote from that website:
And a longer (PDF) report summarizing ideas from 51 interviews (including with Steve Waldman) related to the Roadmap: https://localnewsroadmap.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Roadmap-for-Local-News-Feb-2-23.pdf