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We like to think that those of us in the local news business provide a vital service essential to the proper functioning of a democracy. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution enshrines the right of free speech. This right can only be exercised by an informed citizenry. This newspaper and other local news outlets perform the function of keeping citizens informed.
We carry out this function by covering the meetings of our local governments, reporting on law enforcement activities and court proceedings as well as news about any dangers that are posed to the public. We ensure that government entities serve the interests of the public in as transparent a manner as possible.
There are a couple of measures before Congress that highlight the importance of local news. U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is among the co-sponsors of a resolution that designates April 2023 as “Preserving And Protecting Local News Month.” Also, a bipartisan bill was introduced recently that would allow local news organizations to negotiate collectively with titans of the tech industry to ensure the local entities are fairly compensated for the news content they create that appears on social media platforms.
There is an abundance of evidence that local news is an endangered resource in many parts of the country, including here in Virginia. According to information compiled in conjunction with the aforementioned resolution, overall employment in newsrooms in the United States fell by 26 percent, or 30,000 jobs, between 2008 and 2020. More than 100 local newsrooms closed during the pandemic. As of this past September, 42 local newspapers in Virginia had either closed or merged.
“In Virginia and across the country, local news outlets are relied on to keep our citizens informed, combat disinformation and serve as a crucial check on our government institutions,” said Warner in a press release announcing his support for the resolution. “It is important that we continue to honor the hard work that local journalists do for our commonwealth and for our democracy in the face of continued budget cuts, newsroom closures and staff reductions that have made their work more challenging.”
Many U.S. residents no longer have access to local news sources. The resolution states that “more than 200 of the 3,143 counties and county equivalents in the United States have no local newspaper at all, creating a news shortage for the four million residents of those areas.” The resolution further notes that “rural counties are among the counties most deeply impacted by the loss of local reporting, as more than 500 of the 2,500 newspapers that have closed or merged since 2005 are in rural counties.”
The “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act” was introduced recently by liberal Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and conservative Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, with multiple co-sponsors from both parties. The bill would allow small, locally owned news organizations to engage in collective bargaining with social media behemoths such as Google and Facebook on such matters as paying for content and giving proper attribution for the sources of the news that appear on these platforms.
It is encouraging to see that members of Congress are recognizing the important role local news plays in keeping citizens informed, and that they are taking steps to try to keep these critical institutions in our local communities around for future generations.
