Rebuilding Local News
Local news is collapsing. This coalition advocates public policies that will strengthen communities by creating a more robust, more inclusive local news system, without endangering editorial independence
THE LOCAL JOURNALISM SUSTAINABILITY ACT
Our plan includes the endorsement of an existing bipartisan bill sponsored that provides tax credits to consumers to buy newspaper subscriptions or donate to nonprofit local news organizations. This has been endorsed by the same groups that endorsed the Rebuild Local News plan — plus additional groups representing thousands more newsrooms.
Rebuild Local News is a coalition of organizations advocating for locally-grounded and nonprofit community journalism. The 3,000+ newsrooms that we represent include weekly community newspapers, citywide nonprofit websites, ethnic publications, centers for state watchdog journalism, digital-first news sites, rural papers, public radio stations, and family-owned newspapers as well as the leading organizations advancing local journalism innovation.
Why support for local journalism is the “civic infrastructure of democracy” — and should be included in the infrastructure bill.
What’s At Stake When Locally-Owned and Community News Disappears?
The Health of our Communities
60% of all U.S. counties that have reported cases of COVID-19 lack a daily newspaper.
The Loss of Trusted Sources
62% of Americans are looking to local news on how to protect themselves from being infected by the virus.
Fewer Journalists in Communities
Employment in the newspaper industry has fallen just as much as the coal mining industry.