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Local journalism is in a state of crisis.
Commercial media conglomerates have decimated local newsrooms. Companies like Sinclair have forced local news stations to run boilerplate news segments parroting harmful right-wing propaganda. Disinformation and misinformation have filled in the gap after the loss of local beat reporters and community media outlets. I could go on.
We deserve better. That’s why we launched the News Voices project eight years ago this year on a wild premise: the idea that community organizing could create a new vision for local news — one that centered the voices and experiences of local residents.
We’re turning that vision into a reality, starting with the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium. In 2018, Gov. Phil Murphy signed bipartisan legislation we helped craft to create the consortium, a landmark nonprofit with the mission of strengthening local-news coverage and boosting civic engagement in communities across the state. The consortium has distributed $6.5 million in grants to some 30 organizations focusing on diversifying journalism, improving government transparency, better serving communities of color and immigrant communities, and providing community-health news.
And Free Press was there every step of the way, bringing together local organizers, universities, artists, students, media-makers and other stakeholders to mobilize thousands of people across the state. Here’s what we learned:
Focus on community need. Public policy to support local news and information should focus on fulfilling a community’s specific needs, not on saving news outlets or journalists’ jobs. While the journalism industry is important, what’s most crucial is the impact it has on the public and the democratic process.
Policy is essential. Public-interest policy must be part of any conversation about the future of journalism. Such conversations must be informed by grassroots efforts and the needs of impacted communities.
Get people motivated. Be mindful that newsrooms and journalists are doing the best job they can under difficult circumstances and producing excellent work. Recognize that the need for better community information, and more of it — rather than present-day failures or losses — is what gets people motivated and involved.
Cast a wider focus. News-and-information policy should encompass all types of journalism, media, storytellers and organizations that focus on meeting communities’ information needs.
Build multi-stakeholder coalitions. Getting people to fight for better local news takes involvement and support from like-minded civic organizations, academics, lobbyists, legislators and funders — not just journalists and others in the media industry. Those who are most impacted by local-news policy have to work together.
Organize the people. Recognize that grassroots organizing and activating civic-minded groups are key to pressuring legislators to support this kind of initiative. And it takes participation and assistance from all over the target region to pull off this kind of campaign. |
Clearly, the local-news crisis isn’t unique to New Jersey: It’s harming communities throughout the country. Media organizations, activists and others looking for ways to address the crisis in their own states can draw on the insights Free Press gained from its successful grassroots-organizing campaign, the messaging that resonated and the lobbying in the New Jersey statehouse.
In 2024, we’re going to take this fight to statehouses around the country. Lawmakers need to hear from communities suffering from the lack of local news, and we’ve got a plan to build movements in states alongside committed local allies.
We believe the future of local journalism and the future of democracy are intertwined. With an average of two local newspapers shutting down every week — and with the current media system harming or failing to meet the needs of many communities — this is a critical moment to build bridges between journalism and civic life. If you’re with us in this fight, help Free Press get a head start on year-end giving season with a donation today.
Thank you for everything you do to support our movement for a just and equitable media system — one where all community members’ needs are served.
In solidarity,
Mike and the rest of the News Voices team
freepress.net
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