Our Process
This report arose from a collaborative process that involved reviewing relevant experiences and studies worldwide, including New York City’s executive order and law, the Federal Communications Commission’s Information Needs of Communities report, the Chicago executive order, and the experiences of numerous other countries. The team from City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism’s Center for Community Media included Darlie Gervais, its advertising boost initiative manager, and Mikhael Simmonds, its executive director; and Graciela Mochkofsky who was formerly CCM executive director and is now dean of the journalism school. Our study of other countries was led by Anya Schiffrin, director of technology, media, and communications at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), one of the leading experts on media policy globally and author of several books on media capture by government policy. Her students–Danielle Dougall, Kendall Gee, Ryan Lee, and Alissa Schaible—aided her.
Gabe Rottman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press drafted the model law and executive order. We held an all-day workshop at Columbia’s SIPA reviewing the experience of New York and the countries studied by Professor Schiffrin and her students. Participating in that workshop and offering critiques of the plan were Jonathan Rose, professor and head of the political studies department at Queen’s University in Canada, Sally Young, professor of political science at the University of Melbourne, Tracy Baim, former publisher of The Chicago Reader and co-founder of The Windy City Times, Julie Sandorf, president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation, Sarah Stonbely, research director at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, Bruce Putterman, CEO and publisher of CT Mirror, Tim Regan-Porter, CEO of the Colorado Press Association, Jim Mizener, vice president of advertising for RJ Media Group, Aron Pilhofer, co-founder of the Tiny News Collective, Jose Bayona, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media, and Jeanne Straus, president and publisher of Straus News. Special thanks to Tracy Baim for being generous with her time and contacts at the Chicago Independent Media Alliance. Drafts of this report were sent to numerous stakeholders for comment and criticism. The kit was primarily written by Steven Waldman, Anna Brugmann and Ray Garcia of Rebuild Local News. It was copyedited by Matthew Cooper and designed by Lisa Michurski.
About Rebuild Local News
Rebuild Local News is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to developing public policies to strengthen local news. It manages the Rebuild Local News Coalition, which includes 30 national and state groups representing over 3,000 local newsrooms. The Coalition’s membership is broad and diverse, including weeklies and dailies, for-profits and nonprofits, labor unions and publishers, Black and Hispanic publishers, national nonprofits revitalizing local news, and civic organizations committed to strengthening democracy.
About The Center for Community Media
The Center for Community Media serves news organizations that provide essential local coverage for populations whose voices and issues are underrepresented in mainstream media. The Center serves as a hub of information, resources, and training aimed at increasing the sustainability of this news media sector. Through strategic partnerships, CCM fosters networking and best-practice sharing among community and immigrant media nationwide.