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* Background on the Local Journalism Task Force…

The Local Journalism Task Force is established to: (1) conduct a comprehensive, nonbinding study relative to communities underserved by local journalism in Illinois; and (2) review all aspects of local journalism including, but not limited to, the adequacy of press coverage of communities, the ratio of residents to media outlets, the history of local news in Illinois, print and digital business models for media outlets, the impact of social media on local news, strategies to improve local news access, and public policy solutions to improve the sustainability of local press business models and private and nonprofit solutions.

* The Illinois Legislative Correspondents’ Association recently updated its members about ideas emerging from the task force…

Tax credits, for example, could be used a few different ways: for small businesses to advertise with local media, residents who subscribe to local media or media companies that hire and retain local journalists. (A tax exemption could also serve a similar purpose for the latter.) Another idea: advertising set-asides, in which governments could be required to spend a percentage of advertising dollars in local news/media outlets.

One problem I see right off the bat is that a whole lot of local news media outlets are owned by gigantic, debt-heavy corporations like Gannett. They suck money out of local communities to pay off debt and pad executive pay.

But, yes, local news is most definitely dying. There are exceptions, but a quick look at just about any local news website, particularly outside the Chicago area, confirms that obvious fact.

* The Question: What role, if any, should the state of Illinois play in preventing the collapse of local news media outlets? Explain.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:06 pm

Comments

Journalism student loan forgiveness - model off the engineer program.
Statewide subscription portal through libraries.
Media literacy high school class.

Comment by MM Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:16 pm
===The combustible engine industry?===

You live under a rock? States are trying to figure out how “Green” things need be, some factoring in types of engines, as much as others think it’s a “war on oil vs. green”

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:21 pm
Local news is the heart of democracy…lose one…lose the other.

Comment by Dotnonymous x Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:21 pm
===Local news is the heart of democracy…lose one…lose the other. ===

Now answer the question.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:22 pm
Bummer about local news, but government should have absolutely no role in financially supporting a free press. They won’t be free once they become dependent upon politicians subsidizing their existence.

Comment by phocion Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:23 pm
To the post, and my apologies,

The fourth pillar of democracy needs champions to fight for news to be truthful even if it hurts those most that are fighting to save it.

I don’t want “state run” local newspapers, but there needs to be real pushback to the Proft/Timpone astroturf newspapers filling a vacuum with toxic air.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:24 pm
Nothing. Sadly, there’s nothing government can do to negate what consumers have choosen to do with their dollars.

Comment by Steve Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:24 pm
Maybe… like a PBS network of newspapers, but unlike a newspaper running NPR rote reporting, part of being in the network includes “on the ground” reporting, and foot work in reports, not regurgitating press releases.

Maybe start there?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:26 pm
You don’t qualify for public notice ads if you do not employ X full-time employees locally.

Comment by ORD-ELP Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:27 pm
===Bummer about local news, but government should have absolutely no role in financially supporting a free press.===

Curious how you’d describe PBS news and its existence in the industry.

Sincerely.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:28 pm
None. Local news is dying because nobody pays attention to it.

Comment by Hannibal Lecter Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:28 pm
Spitball:

Fully fund whatever they say the lottery proceeds are actually funding and create an endowment for local news from those funds.

Really, I don’t see any way government helps. What’s needed are the Jeff Bezos’ to stop “buying” the WaPo’s and, instead, create a non-profit that they endow to run them and local news orgs.

Comment by Save Ferris Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:29 pm
The role the state should play should be purely monitoring and educational. Maybe going as far as providing low-interest loans for local news outlets to finance their daily activity. Which then brings up the idea of a state bank - something many local news outlets are currently very much against even reporting on due to their many advertisers in private banking and real estate.

Beyond that, any state involvement would only be propping up something which has already failed, and continuing the harm it’s causing.

Even within the Chicago area, what was once a decent local newspaper around here has turned into basically a church bulletin, because the current editor has difficulty distancing their job from their personal life and beliefs. There’s no reason for the state to support that in any way.

Sadly, it has to fail completely to allow for something else to take its place. We’ve made our collective choices, and now it’s time for the pain part of the consequences of those choices. On the other side, something will rise up to fill the void. Maybe that will be a terrible option and will fail too, but that has to be allowed to happen for a well-functioning model to arise.

I’d prefer the state focus on allowing something new to take the place of the old, instead of trying to prop up legacy outlets which have basically just turned into press-release copy/paste of whatever local officials say. I can’t remember the last time a local reporter questioned the validity, or even asked for proof, of most of the things claimed by local officials.

Side note: I watched an old History Channel episode of “Modern Marvels” over the weekend - from 1999. It was discussing the changes in newspapers with the internet. There were many great ideas, which were then promptly ignored over the intervening 25 years. The internet didn’t cause local news to fail, local news and their choices caused local news to fail. They mostly behaved as if they were the gatekeepers of all local information, and not simply the custodians of it.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:32 pm
-Curious how you’d describe PBS news and its existence in the industry-

PBS does have a bias : they are funded by taxpayers. This hurts their objectivity. You can’t expect PBS to be for tax cuts or limiting government.

Comment by Steve Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:34 pm
I agree that local news is dying but I don’t believe it’s due to a dearth of interest. It’s anecdotal but my neighbors as well as friends across the country eagerly consume solid journalism about their local goings-on. As Rich noted, a big part of the problem is industry consolidation by the national big boys (a problem in so many sectors since we stopped enforcing antitrust in this country.)

In terms of what to do, I am forever reminding people here in Chicago who complain about paywalls that there are TONS of publications available (many updated in real or near-real time) through the Chicago Public Library. Perhaps there could be a way for local outlets to generate some revenue by paywalling content and getting libraries to subscribe. Wouldn’t totally solve the problem but might establish at least a base of stable revenue for those entities.

Comment by The Opinions Bureau Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:37 pm
===PBS does have a bias : they are funded by taxpayers.===

Opinion not based in fact.

We’re all taxpayers so they could be hurting or helping depending on the news.

It’s a weird flex to say “funded by taxpayers” when you think about the testimony of Fred Rogers when faced with funding cuts “back in the day”

I suggest you use the Google Key for his testimony in the overall.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:39 pm
State government has been propping up local journalism for years in one sense: there’s a state bureau that disseminates news stories and other background information to the press for free. A lot of smaller market outfits lean on those daily feeds for tv and radio stories to replace the loss of an actual government beat reporter of their own. But that’s certainly not enough.

The state could expand media training at more Universities and colleges, but frankly, field work for tv and radio workers pays peanuts and has a lot of competition already.

The thing I’d try next would be to underwrite TV and radio jobs at PBS And NPR stations with specific grants to pay for beat reporters in key areas related to public affairs, health, science, law/ courts, etc. with a hyper local focus. Currently shows like “The 21st” are doing great work but have limited staff. They need more paid positions. These people could form the core of revitalized reporting. But they would have to show skeptics that they are unbiased, not paid shills for government propaganda. There has to be demonstrated rigor in the investigative reporting and interviews.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:46 pm
Willy as usual is correct: PBS “taxpayer” funding is very tiny fraction of the budget; the vast majority of their funding is from listeners supplemented by corporate sponsorship.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:49 pm
Father spent 45 years with a local paper with the last 15 with corporate ownership. Very sad of what is left now as it was great to open the paper and find out what was going on in Lake County, good, bad and ugly. So much is being talked and reported on the social media sites like Nextdoor, that includes misinformation and opinions.

With regret, I don’t think the state should get involved with incentives or tax credit as it was pointed out, in most cases ownership is no longer local. Also, you may creating a mistrust that paper will not report stuff since they are receiving “payments/tax credits/incentives” from the state.

However, something needs to be done if the people want to retain local media. Suggest to concentrate on credits/exemptions to retain and use local journalist and maybe a percentage of the local paper need to be local stories. Incentives to remove paywall from internet sites for local stories. Yes, I know this will require a lot of discussion and foresight to make it right.

Comment by snowman61 Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:49 pm
Many of the horses have already left the barn, but we need a change in the tax code that would make it less attractive (much less attractive) for large corporations to buy a local news outlet (print, radio, tv) and saddle it with all the debt associated with the purchase. Vulture capitalism seems to be one of the root causes.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:49 pm
I live my newspapers delivered so I can hold them and I used to live news magazines. However government has no business subsidizing or investing or giving tax breaks to newspapers. I don’t like it when they do business breaks but news is an entirely different thing. And that leave’s public info up to Twitter or X or Truth Social or who knows what which is sad

Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:52 pm
==It’s a weird flex to say “funded by taxpayers” when you think about the testimony of Fred Rogers when faced with funding cuts “back in the day”==

Mr. Rogers doesn’t deliver the news.

Comment by phocion Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:54 pm
“… gigantic, debt-heavy corporations, like Gannett.”

Has there been an in-depth analysis of media debt like Bethany McLean’s March 2001 analysis of Enron? Wasn’t most of this debt originally incurred before 2008? Unless it has all been interest payments only, shouldn’t some of the debt been retired in the last 15 years?

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:54 pm
Tips cap to - Give Us Barabbas -, appreciate that, and I hope in an overall discussion to funding one looks at the Fred Rogers testimony because that discussion (in an overall and to this post, comments, etc) is present too.

How can one also say “no one reads local newspapers” as we have seen what noise/message impact Proft/Timpone brings with their “papers”, because you can’t say it’s there’s no impact and then there’s discussion to those papers in discussions to news consumption.

It’d be worthwhile to look at a holistic monetary way to encourage a rebuilding of local news.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:58 pm
The State Government should just stay out of the picture. It could be a problem getting tangled up with news and they control. Like most things just let the consumers figure out what needs to be done. News is changing fast and mostly on the internet that I can see. Local news is cool but let those interested get involved not the state.

Comment by clec dcn Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 12:58 pm
===tangled up with news and they control.===

I do not favor any state run media, we have FoxNews for that.

Censorship or unilateral choices of news needs to be done in newsrooms with…

===…just let the consumers figure out what needs to be done. News is changing fast and mostly on the internet…===

… a want by too many actors (Proft/Timpone) to have “alternative facts” drive the news cycles.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:05 pm
I would love to see University, college and community college newspapers expand their coverage of their home and adjacent communities. The state could encourage this through targeted grant or scholarship programs. This could also take the form of a partnership with existing local media. Worth further study or a pilot program.

Comment by stateandlake Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:06 pm
None. I hate this demise of local news but government dictating free-speech and market intervention are even worse. And for the idea to give a tax break, that is completely irrelevant. These newspapers do not make a profit and so do not pay taxes. Nothing from nothing is still nothing.

Comment by Lurker Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:09 pm
I think others are right to be skeptical of government getting involved with supporting media. Perhaps regulating the financial practices that these big companies are using to buy and destroy local outlets is more feasible, since those are also destroying other companies/jobs outside of the media industry as well. Regulating how acquisitions are made gets dicey in its own right, but might be more plausible

Comment by CornAl DoGooder Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:12 pm
Had not thought about the idea @Stateandlake put out for discussion, but really like it.

Comment by Back to the Future Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:16 pm
“PBS does have a bias : they are funded by taxpayers. This hurts their objectivity.”

Of course it’s the portion of PBS’s funding that comes from taxpayers that must lead to bias.
Not all the funding that comes from the Koch family and all the other scions of the .001 of the 1% that you can see listed at the beginning/end of their programming all day long. That’s the non-biased money, straight from the people who deserve to decide what we can watch. Not like that tainted money you get from taxpayers.

Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:36 pm
What about low-interest loans to cover start-up costs for hyper local publications?

There does not seem to be a shortage of passion at the local level to meet the demand for local news, but that passion rarely comes with a strong business sense or the cash necessary to make local news a full-time job. Small market publishers also don’t have many local advertisers or outside business connections. Private investors want editorial control and/or profitability up-front.

= just let the consumers figure out what needs to be done =

That’s the status quo.

Comment by Dirty Red Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:40 pm
===This hurts their objectivity===

And what’s your excuse?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 1:47 pm
Democracies shrivel as local news dies so - yes - it’s imperative that the state plays a role in reviving local news (or at least keeping it afloat). Tax credits, more gov’t ad spending for local media, maybe using the NPR model for infusing local newspapers with dollars for quality news reporting — all ideas worth exploring because news coverage is at the heart of good government and holding electeds accountable.

Clearly, the Facebook / social media sea of misinformation model is an abject failure and Timpone’s 150 slanted news sites further tilts the media landacape the wrong way.

Comment by This Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 2:03 pm
I live in a small, Southern Illinois county. Our county newspaper closed almost 2 years ago. There is a local radio station(based out of another county) that puts some local news on air. However, it is a real struggle to find out what is going on. The towns and schools are trying their best to put things on social media; but there is a whole population that doesn’t use social media. Plus without a local newspaper, we have no legal way to publish public notices. They are going in a neighboring county paper, but that paper doesn’t cover our local news and has very limited subscribers in our county. This issue is discussed time and time again by the people and units of local government. What’s the answer? We don’t have one. When the paper closed, they claimed it was because of costs. Subsidizing papers might be the answer, but most people want the government out of things, not in them. This is a real problem, but I don’t think there is any good answers to help solve it.

Comment by Normally just a reader Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 2:03 pm
If the state really wanted to help, they could help fund the regional NPR stations. Our local NPR station picked up a ton of newsroom slack after Gannett lobotomized our local paper.

Comment by sulla Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 2:22 pm
Venture Capital destroying viable businesses is a national problem that needs a national solution. In some EU countries, VC companies have to show a clear plan of how they’ll increase jobs, pay, service/product availability, etc. If the plan isn’t to do better than the current ownership, they can’t buy it. And if they fail to adhere to their plan, they are fined substantially and the transaction can be reversed.

VC firms are never coming in to save or even improve an industry; they’re coming in to kill it and then scavenge the corpses. It is not novel, and it is not a surprise anymore.

Comment by Suburban Mom Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 2:48 pm
===Maybe… like a PBS network of newspapers, but unlike a newspaper running NPR rote reporting, part of being in the network includes “on the ground” reporting, and foot work in reports, not regurgitating press releases. ===

I think is actually a decent idea. Of course this could be set up in a myriad of ways but imagine four or five regional PBS-styled news operations funded in part by the state. I don’t think this helps revive local journalism outfits (as gov would be filling that void) but it would help employ qualified journalists and improve awareness of local issues from a reputable source. It doesn’t help the market but it would help consumers be more informed, better citizens etc.

Comment by Lakefront Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 3:16 pm
Advertising set-asides are not a smart idea. Forcing legal notices to be published in a local paper is already bad enough and should be done away with.

The state can charter an independent corporation that can make operational grants to local newspapers that are independent of Gannett, Dan Proft, etc. The locals can choose to contribute to that non-profit for news that will generally go to their local area so as to insulate them from being able to retaliate against journalists. In exchange, they can get “most favored nation” status for advertising rates and earn more revenue in a virtuous cycle. They can also provide resources like attorneys and model charters to help locals incorporate or convert into not-for-profit status.

Plenty of options that will modernize an ancient business instead of fruitlessly try to hold society back for that business’ benefit.

Comment by GC Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 3:59 pm
I don’t believe state government … or any government… should be involved in funding “free press” models. I fully believe local news is essential to a fully functioning democracy (that’s why it is in the first amendment), but it needs to adapt to be viable on its own.
Government could (and IMO should) require all local units of government to stream their meetings (or at least record and post them). This would give those who care about news the ability to view government actions, and also perhaps serve as a way to allow entrepreneurs the ability to aggregate local news into an easily digestible form which could be sold at a profit.
From my experience though, there will always be some people who believe any local media is biased.

Comment by Vote Quimby Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 4:12 pm
Why do people seem to think that certain jobs should just deserve lower pay, just because they serve the public in some way? Nurses, teachers, librarians, day care workers, journalists; your altruism should be pay enough. We don’t suggest you should take a pay hit working in a private sector office job, but somehow, jobs that serve a public good get it in the shorts when it comes to liveable wages. Journalism doesn’t happen for free. If you’re disappointed by your local news, it may be because when you pay peanuts, all you get is squirrels.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 4:41 pm
- Now answer the question. -

I don’t know the answer.

Comment by Dotnonymous x Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 4:48 pm
===Why do people seem to think that certain jobs should just deserve lower pay, just because they serve the public in some way?===

Remember Greg Bishop saying that on WMAY years and years ago. Surprised Center Square doesn’t advocate teachers be unattached females who live in the back of the building.

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 5:15 pm
I will say both Journalism and democracy require informed/dedicated participation that seem currently focused on Facebook and Snapchat…selfishly.

Comment by Dotnonymous x Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 5:22 pm
How about you create a pike of money— say skin off video poker—and let a new or existing foundation award grants for a group of regional reporters

Comment by Annonin' Tuesday, Oct 31, 23 @ 6:40 pm
It’s a vicious circle. Cost cutting eliminates staff, which eliminates local coverage. Lack of local coverage leads to decline in subscriptions. Lack of circulation leads to lack of revenue for staff.

I don’t have a good answer for it. I will note that there are weekly papers that are not owned / subsidized by media giants that manage to survive on just some advertising income. In Springfield, I’m thinking specifically of the Illinois Times.

The good news, IF you a social media savvy, is a number of people have stepped in locally to fill the void. There are web sites and Facebook groups specifically dedicated to local reporting. One actually does a better job of reporting on the local crime scene, publishing the entire county arrest record for each day, albeit often a couple of days later. Another one tackles local problems, informing people of ripoffs and other issues.

Yes, it’s not the newspapers of old. Yes, I do miss when Springfield had 2 and even 3 competing daily’s. I still subscribe to the remaining daily paper, even at their current pricing, because I like to do the various puzzles (word jumble, sudoku, crossword) without firing up the computer and printing those pages. And it’s easier to read the comics on paper.

I don’t know what the ultimate solution is. Part of it is convincing readers, who are used to getting almost everything free on the internet, to actually pay for content. That requires having what I would call high value content, which is generally in depth local news. Not every paper can be the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal; that market is already filled.

And part of it is figuring out a sustainable business model. There are weekly’s that have cracked that puzzle. Maybe we’ll eventually end up with just weeklies. But I have to think there is still a niche for a local daily newspaper.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Nov 1, 23 @ 12:08 am
===It’s a vicious circle. Cost cutting eliminates staff, which eliminates local coverage. Lack of local coverage leads to decline in subscriptions. Lack of circulation leads to lack of revenue for staff.

I don’t have a good answer for it. ===

The first thing you gotta wrap your head around is that this is a feature, not a bug. These corporations are deliberately extracting every possible dollar out of a collapsing business model.

They shouldn’t be rewarded for that with tax breaks, IMHO.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Nov 1, 23 @ 8:59 am