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As political polarization grows and disinformation spreads, a shared baseline of facts on the issues that most directly affect Americans is more essential than ever. But the decline of local journalism makes it increasingly difficult to hold local, state, and national policymakers accountable. Although nonprofit newsrooms and innovative digital outlets are stepping into the breach, the business model for local journalism has essentially collapsed.
Confronted with this stark reality, Losing the News calls for a radical rethinking of local journalism as a public good. Revitalizing local news will require concerted action and an investment of billions of dollars, not only across the private and philanthropic sectors, but also in the form of significant public support for local watchdog reporting. As an organization dedicated in significant part to limiting the role of government in relation to speech and public discourse, we arrive at this conclusion reluctantly and favor a deliberate, careful approach to driving forward a new paradigm that vigorously protects editorial independence while sustaining the flow of news and information necessary to undergird our democracy.
We encourage you to read the report and its executive summary, as well as the recommendations and case studies documenting how the crisis has affected American communities.
Thanks as always for your support. And we look forward to hearing your reactions to our work.
Summer Lopez
Senior Director of Free Expression Programs
PEN America
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