We're at such a critical juncture for the future of local news. Readership is way up. Great work is being done. Bold experiments are underway. We're actually having a political debate at the highest levels about how to address the journalism crisis. And yet at the same time ...
The pandemic and resulting economic crisis are only worsening this situation. Two-dozen papers have closed and others will follow. June will be telling, especially with these moves at Tribune and whatever's going to happen with McClatchy. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article242562351.html
It's also good to see the Maryland senators and many state legislators urging the sale of the Baltimore Sun. But we need policies to incentivize sales to new local owners, transition newsrooms to nonprofit or other viable structures, protect workers, and get the vultures out!
I'm encouraged by how congressional leaders like @SenatorCantwell @SenSherrodBrown @SenBlumenthal @SenSanders @ewarren @TimRyan @JoaquinCastrotx have been talking about the importance of local journalism.
We have an opportunity here to respond to the emergency and reverse the tide that has let local journalism fall into the hands of the vultures. We can go in the other direction: toward local owners, toward nonprofits, toward community-centered journalism that engages the public
And we have a lot to learn from the innovators reinventing local coverage from the ground up like @Chalkbeat @JournalismProj @city_bureau who are modeling the kinds of approaches we need everywhere and need to support with smart policies, too.
So let's get creative and bold. Hedge funds are not inevitable. The decline of local news is not inevitable. The media doesn't need to be something that just happens to us. We can actually dream, reimagine and recreate the news that we need.
You can follow @notaaroncraig.
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