SIGN THE PETITION: TELL CONGRESS TO ADDRESS THE LOCAL NEWS CRISIS

All Members of Congress

Local news plays an indispensable role in American civic life as a watchdog for government and corporate accountability and as a building block of social cohesion. But, for over a decade, there has been a steady succession of local news outlets closing down and reporters laid off.

In 2018 just 25 companies owned two-thirds of daily newspapers.

This massive consolidation of local news outlets, owned by a new generation of media owners—private equity and hedge fund investors—is resulting in less diversity of viewpoints and news that is oftentimes more politically polarized.

The solution to our local news crisis will require an all-of-the-above approach. We will need the public, lawmakers, government regulators, civil society organizations, big tech, and philanthropists to come together to take on the national crisis affecting our local news industry.

Sign the petition calling on Congress to convene a Commission of Public Support for Local News tasked with evaluating the current state of our local news ecosystem and proposing solutions to the local news crisis, including plans to create a new public funding mechanism for news production.

Sponsored by
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Progress America
Additional Sponsors
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PEN America
New York, NY
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Open The Government
Washington, DC
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Daily Kos
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Reporters Without Borders (RSF USA)
Washington, DC

To: All Members of Congress
From: [Your Name]

Since 2004, newspapers have lost 47% of newsroom staff and over 2,000 local newspapers have closed. And today, one-third of the country’s local TV stations are owned by just five companies.

In 1965, the non-governmental Carnegie Commission helped establish public broadcasting in the United States. Today, it is time for a radical shift in how we think of journalism—not just as a commercial product, but as a public good, which serves such a vital role in society that it deserves private and public protection and support so our communities can be reflected in the news they read and so people can engage more deeply in our democracy. We call on Congress to convene a commission to address the local news crisis.