Written by William Hale
A new bill introduced by three California state senators would create an 11-member board tasked with sparking local news production.
Sens. Steve Glazer (D), BenAllen (D) and Josh Newman (D) proposed a whopping $50 million dollar budget dedicated to this public fund. The board would be selected by the state legislature and the California Governor, however requirements for board selectees include representatives from minority-owned media outlets, “small and medium-sized” news outlets and non-profit organizations, and at least one journalism professor.
While the proposed board would allocate the $50 million in grants, the board would not provide any editorial influence on local news outlets.
“…over the past couple decades, the closure of many local newspapers and the decline of most others has created vast ‘news deserts’ where virtually no local coverage remains,” said Sen. Glazer.
Over 1,800 news outlets have closed or merged since 2004, but Democrats ensure the solution to this decline in local journalism is more public spending. Sen. Glazer suggests that increasing local news readership is “vital to the survival of American democracy,” a trope endlessly implored by Democrats looking to rationalize their policy preferences.
Nonetheless, the failure of over 100 news outlets within the first year and a half of the coronavirus pandemic certainly isn’t a positive development, but perhaps the downward trend in readership should be attributed to waning public trust in media across the board.
Photo Cred: Wilfredo Lee/AP
