{"id":468,"date":"2018-05-07T20:15:44","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T20:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/work\/local-news-legislation\/"},"modified":"2024-08-21T17:28:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T00:28:33","slug":"local-news-legislation","status":"publish","type":"work","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/work\/local-news-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Local News Legislation"},"template":"","class_list":["post-468","work","type-work","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"California Common Cause is committed to helping build a resilient, accountable, and inclusive future for local news in our communities.\u00a0","featured_image":6065,"work_type":false,"related_issues":false,"location":3},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<h2>Local News Legislation<\/h2>\r\nThe local news industry in California is struggling to survive. In cities across the state, newspapers are folding or consolidating and remaining newsrooms are being hollowed out after mass layoffs.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lack of information flowing to our communities impacts everyone \u2013 every group advocating in the public interest or for underserved communities is a stakeholder in ensuring a thriving local press. Preserving and strengthening a durable and diverse local press, including print and online publications, traditional media and ethnic media, is more important than ever to the future of our democracy.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the last decade and a half, the dominance of online classifieds and digital advertising have undermined newspapers\u2019 traditional local advertising revenue model. Mergers and layoffs have also led to many surviving local newspapers becoming shells of their former selves. In the last 15 years, the number of newspaper reporters has decreased by almost 60%. Many local papers now exist in name only, sometimes as branded editions of much larger news outlets, with little or no dedicated local journalism presence.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The gaps in local news coverage present a crisis for California\u2019s local and state democracy in several critical ways:<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Depressed Civic Participation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Newspaper closures and staff reductions are associated with decreased civic participation, less informed voting, less interest in political participation, and lower voter turnout.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Silenced Diverse Voices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Newspapers serving people of color, immigrant communities, and other marginalized groups provide these communities with a voice and help identify and elevate issues of importance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Undermined Political Accountability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Local news plays a critical watchdog role in keeping local government accountable and uncovering corruption.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Undermined Business Accountability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Newspapers also serve a check against powerful non-governmental institutions, like businesses that exploit workers, cheat consumers, or harm the environment.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Increased Polarization<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Without local journalism, voters are more likely to rely on more biased sources for news information, like social media, partisan news publications, cable TV, or talk radio. One study found that newspaper closures increases partisan voting patterns.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">California Common Cause is a strong watchdog when it comes to protecting our elections and democratic institutions. Our voting rights work includes pushing back on election deniers and peddlers of misinformation, and working to assist voters as they cast their ballots and educate themselves on civic issues in order to do so. All of this requires a healthy, thriving local press. In particular, responding decisively to combat election disinformation, increasingly the threat of our time, requires strengthening and sustaining our local news ecosystem in California.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<h4><b>MOVING TOWARDS SOLUTIONS<\/b><\/h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">California needs a plan of action for building a resilient, accountable, and inclusive future for local news in our communities. Policy approaches to be explored with our partners working on the local news policy solutions will include, but are not limited to:\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Requiring local government agencies and departments to spend at least 50 percent of existing advertising and communications dollars on community and ethnic media<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Advertising with an emphasis on community and ethnic media allows for city departments and agencies to reach diverse communities, does not add costs for the city, and does not make funding dependent on the content produced.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Creating a \u201ccommunity journalism district\u201d in partnership with the local library to fund local journalism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Journalism districts are established democratically, funded by a local tax, and, to prevent political interference, governed by an independent public board that is accountable to the community they serve. We will explore with local partners if they wish to use community-centered governance models, like participatory budgeting.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><b>Providing news vouchers to residents that can be given to local news outlets in return for a subscription.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> City government would then directly pay the news outlet for the value of the voucher.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>OUR RESEARCH<\/h4>\r\nIn early 2024, California Common Cause published\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Local-Voices-on-Local-News-2024-Print.pdf\"><i>Local Voices On Local News: Community Perspectives and Policy Recommendations for Strengthening San Francisco\u2019s Journalism Ecosystem<\/i><\/a>, a report that uncovers what San Franciscans are saying about their news needs, includes perspectives from independent, locally-owned publishers, and explores public policy solutions that can close the civic information gaps among the city\u2019s most marginalized residents.\r\n\r\nThe report, known as a community information needs assessment, documents a community listening process California Common Cause undertook over five months to understand San Francisco\u2019s local news landscape and the information needs of its communities. The listening process included over 175 people across the city through 12 focus groups and 26 interviews.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"button1\" role=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Local-Voices-on-Local-News-2024-Print.pdf\">READ THE REPORT<\/a><\/p>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_take_action","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_take_action":{"heading":"Take Action","button_text":"","manually_curate":false,"action":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_banner","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_banner":{"use_donate_banner":true,"title":"Title [highlight]with highlighting[\/highlight] and additional text.","button":null,"image":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_resources","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_resources":{"heading":"Related Resources","button_text":"See all Related Resources","manually_curate":false,"resource":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_press","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_press":{"heading":"Press","button_text":"","manually_curate":false,"press":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_events","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_events":{"heading":"Events"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_our_experts","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_our_experts":{"heading":"","manually_curate":false,"people":null}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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