Rebuild Local News supports Wisconsin bill to establish local news advertising credit

Statement of Steven Waldman, chair of the Rebuild Local News Coalition, and President and co-founder of Report for America:

“The Rebuild Local News is a coalition of 17 national organizations committed to strengthening local news.  The coalition’s groups represent more than 3,000 newsrooms, and includes publishers, labor unions, rural and urban, mainstream and ethnic, publications small, medium and large – including 254 in Wisconsin.

The Rebuild Local News Coalition strongly supports Assembly Bill 762.  This smart bill would solve two problems at once – helping small businesses get back on their feet and helping save local news from destruction.

I’d like to provide some national context about the local news part of that equation. While national cable news and newspapers are thriving, local news is collapsing. The internet has devastated the business models of local newspapers. Since 2000, there has been an 81% drop in newspaper advertising revenue. Some 1,800 communities have no newspapers and thousands more have “ghost newspapers,” which barely cover local issues.

We know that the publications in Wisconsin are doing their best.  But they are doing it with far fewer reporters. Nationally, the drop in ad revenue has led to a 54% drop in the number of reporters since 2000.  The contraction has been particularly severe in rural areas.

This makes it harder for communities to address the problems most important to them.  Studies have shown that towns with less local news have lower bond ratings and even higher taxes (because municipal governments tend to get sloppier when no one is watching). Such communities have less civic engagement and lower voter turnouts.  It’s also harder to improve schools if parents don’t know what’s going on.  Finally, studies have shown that less local news leads to more polarization, as local news is replaced by national cable news, social media and other sources.

We are gratified to see that so many local business, professional and civic groups support this legislation.  This makes sense – and not just because the businesses can sure use the financial help afforded by this marketing credit. It also makes sense because communities without good local news – without accurate information – tend to stagnate.

We particularly appreciate that this is a way of helping local news without having the government pick and choose favorite outlets.  Instead, the tax credit goes to Wisconsin small businesses, who in turn decide which local news source best fits their marketing needs and, we would hope, has built up trust from the community through years of fair journalism.

Part of why I’m here today is that I think this could not only be great for Wisconsin – it can be a model for the rest of the country.  We think you have honed in on a superb, bipartisan (or really nonpartisan) approach, which we think can lead the way for other communities or even the U.S. Congress.  There may be a few tweaks that could strengthen the bill but the general approach is shrewd, effective and First Amendment friendly.

It’s an American as apple pie to complain about elected officials – and now it’s as American as apple pie to complain about the media.  I certainly do it all the time, and I work in the media. I’m guessing you have some critiques of the media too.

But the collapse of local news poses a really severe threat to the health of communities.  This bill provides a great solution to this crisis.”

The National Newspaper Association, Institute for Nonprofit News, National Newspaper Publishers Association, America’s Newspapers, The News Guild, Local Independent Online News, National Association of Hispanic Publications, National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Report for America / The GroundTruth Project, American Journalism Project, Lenfest Institute, Solutions Journalism Network, Local News Consortium, Chalkbeat, PEN America, Public Knowledge

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