Let’s shore up funding for local news
AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file
The abysmal financial state of the news media industry poses a severe threat to the free press.
The financial collapse of the traditional news media has caused mass layoffs of journalists and the shuttering of many local news outlets. Unless these financial headwinds are reversed, journalism may disappear entirely in many communities across the United States.
We must fight back against government attempts to control or censor the news using financial pressure. Instead, governments should be focused on creating solutions to the news funding crisis that increase revenue for news outlets without subjecting them to government influence or control.
Featured Items
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The First Amendment doesn’t matter to Ken Paxton
The Texas attorney general is “investigating” Media Matters for its reporting. Traditional journalists and news outlets could be next
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Web filters block students from reading the news
Schools are already censoring journalism. If Congress has its way, social media will too
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Ducking transparency: Open record reforms will undermine reporting
New Jersey lawmakers shouldn’t use a lame-duck session to gut the state’s public records law
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Is it time to revisit undercover journalism?
The landmark Food Lion case largely put a stop to undercover journalism. Now the court admits it got it wrong
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Prominent journalists’ union risks harming reporter’s privilege
NewsGuild should be working to expand the reporter’s privilege, not demanding journalists out sources in court
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Censoring the news won’t keep kids safe
The Kids Online Safety Act will encourage platforms to remove news content, and that’s bad for everyone — including children.
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The hidden press implications of the Supreme Court’s social media cases
Two new cases about the First Amendment rights of social media platforms to moderate content could have big consequences for journalists and the news media
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Secrecy undermines trust in Google antitrust trial
The press and public shouldn’t be shut out from the Google antitrust case
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In defense of aggressive small-town newspapers
The decline of local news may be causing small-town officials to forget the role of the Fourth Estate
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Arrests of independent journalists should make headlines too
When cases that don’t involve the mainstream press don’t get the attention they should, it results in bad law that harms the rights of all journalists
