The nation since 2005 has lost a third of its newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists, according to a study by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Illinois has been hit hard: Five downstate counties have no local news source, and four others are at risk of losing their lone outlet. Illinois newspapers have lost 86% of their journalism jobs since 2005. Chicago, despite a boomlet in the nonprofit journalism sector, still is among the 20 metro areas with the largest loss of news sources per capita.
The troubles come at a fragile time for the state of democracy in the U.S. Studies show that in “news deserts” and other places where news gathering is at risk, there follows a related rise in political polarization and shrinking voter turnout, as well as increases in government spending and corruption.
Now an Illinois state task force has studied the problems, is offering solutions and also is taking a realistic view about the limits of what can be done.
The lost journalism jobs and shuttered presses are not coming back. New models of journalism for the digital age, with innovative forms of funding and revenue generation and creative tactics for reaching audiences, are the state’s best hope.
The task force also, for the first time in Illinois history, is calling on state government to step forward to help make news gathering sustainable, perhaps even profitable again — especially in smaller downstate communities so deeply affected by the loss of local coverage.
The group is mindful that its recommendations do not arrive in a vacuum. Rather, it seeks to leverage activity already happening in the form of not-for-profit investment on a previously inconceivable scale.
The MacArthur Foundation of Chicago is behind a nationwide initiative, Press Forward, to commit $500 million over five years to local news. This would come on top of a serious commitment already underway: Foundations and private philanthropists have contributed about $150 million a year nationwide over recent years, according to a recent Boston Consulting Group study.
Chicago has benefited from the philanthropic investment. My organization, the Better Government Association, has received millions from the McCormick Foundation and others that is supporting a push into solution-focused reporting. Philanthropic money on a large scale — $61 million committed over five years — saved the Chicago Sun-Times by allowing for its merger with the parent company of public radio station WBEZ-FM 91.5.
Still, even successful nonprofits acknowledge that philanthropy alone is not the answer. A co-founder of Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit that has thrived journalistically and developed sources of earned revenue, warned that foundations change their objectives and agendas, causing difficulties in long-term planning.
When it comes to government help of the kind suggested by the Illinois state task force, an initial impulse of many in journalism may be to flinch.
From steelmakers and farmers to car companies and commercial space-launch entrepreneurs, private enterprises typically seek and expect support from government when their business models aren’t working. Not journalists. For many — reporters and publishers alike — the cornerstone of their trade is the notion that journalism holds government accountable. And to do so, it can in no way be dependent on government support, the thinking goes.
The Illinois task force deftly balances the undeniable need for fiscal interventions with this notion that remedies can’t undermine the objectivity and independence that make legitimate journalism a key bulwark of democracy.
Many of the ideas the task force presents — most already tested in other states — come in the form of tax incentives and tax breaks for customers, thereby avoiding direct financial help to the news organizations themselves.
A Massachusetts bill would offer a $250 tax credit to people with print or digital subscriptions to community newspapers. Tax credits to small businesses that advertise with local news outlets have been proposed, but not adopted, in Colorado, Wisconsin and Maryland.
Some of the ideas are more directly aimed at newspaper bottom lines. A new law in Washington state would exempt local news outlets from a tax on gross receipts. A federal proposal, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, would provide refundable tax credits for companies that employ local journalists.
State and local governments are big advertisers, and there are moves in several markets — including Chicago — to set aside government ad spending for community media, newsrooms focused on serving people of color or LGBTQ+ readers and other news organizations that might not otherwise draw ad spending. If such programs grow to scale, safeguards will be needed to protect against undue influence from government advertisers.
Guardrails could be needed, too, for programs that provide direct grants, such as one in New Jersey by which a consortium that includes state employees and is largely funded with taxpayer dollars selects winners and losers by selecting from among a pool of applicants.
Another idea, called “replanting,” would have struggling local owners donate their newspapers to community organizations with the capital and expertise to help make the news operation sustainable. It’s a well-meaning approach that, once again, would call out for safeguards against meddling by local grandees.
The task force’s report stops short of singling out which ideas might do the most good in Illinois, but the answers may come soon. The state journalism task force was the brainchild of state Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, a former broadcast journalist, and he told me he plans to introduce a bill in this legislative session, one likely to focus more on tax policy than grant programs.
“When you have one-third of newspapers close in the state, especially in rural areas, something has failed here,” he said. The breakdown of the news business, with its implications for society, is the sort of circumstance that calls out for a government response, Stadelman added.
The help is needed. And it can’t come soon enough — for the good of news gathering in Illinois and the democracy that depends on it.
David Greising is president and CEO of the Better Government Association.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Donald Low
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
visit website
