Combatting the
Demise of Journalism
1
Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................... 3
How Wll We Altar the Future?...................................................................... 4
City Bureau....................................................................................................... 4
Civic Information Bill..................................................................................... 5
Conclusion....................................................................................................... 6
Bibliography..................................................................................................... 7
Author Biography............................................................................................ 8
2
The Future of Journalism
Newsroom Employment
Declines
Over recent decades, the emergence and development of social media
and the internet has led to a drastic decline in newsroom employment in the
United States. As the digital age has progressed, news consumers have ac-
quired a tendency to follow national news outlets and specialized news sources
opposed to local news. According to a Pew Research Center analysis of the
Bureau of Labor statistics data found U.S. newsroom employment dropped to
86,000 in 2018 from 114,000 in 2008.
As advertising income and the audience for local newsrooms are declin-
ing, the typical business model, in which papers rely on subscribers and adver-
tising revenue to sustain themselves, is becoming obsolete. Advertising revenue
in the newspaper industry dropped 68% between 2008 and 2018. Despite an
increase in digital advertising over recent years, total advertising revenues have
continued to decline drastically. Due to cuts in revenue and funding, newsrooms
are finding themselves, unsuccessfully, trying to do more with less.
Newspapers are becoming arguably less valuable to communities as a
result of a declining ability to investigate and report potential stories. Due to the
Coronavirus pandemic traffic for local newsrooms has increased dramatically,
yet the financial effects of the pandemic have led newsrooms to layoffs, merg-
ing with other outlets, and even shutting down entirely. Of the newsrooms still
surviving, they have still endured many losses. They have reduced coverage,
laid off reporters, and retracted circulation. In an article published by Brookings,
Clara Hendrickson wrote, “Ongoing threats to the commercial viability of local
newspapers as well as the development of nonprofit models for local news sug-
gest that the market for local journalism, if left alone, will continue to undersup-
ply local coverage.”
In addition to advertising revenue loss, local newsrooms have also ex-
perienced a decline in audience and subscriptions. As reported by a 2019 Pew
report, a mere 14 percent of adults reported they pay for local news – only 9
percent of those between the ages of 30 and 49. Hendrickson reported, “Over
65 million Americans live in counties with only one local newspaper – or none
at all.” With she shift away from local news in America, turnout in elections has
decreased as well as the number of candidates who have run for local offices.
3
“I actually think that we should
How Will We Altar The think about [local journalism] as
Future of Journalism? a civic good, a public good that
should be supported by public and
Laurene Powell Jobs, widow to Steve Jobs, said, “I actually think that private entities.”
we should think about [local journalism] as a civic good, a public good that
should be supported by public and private entities.” Jobs is a private entity who
chooses to actively support local journalism across the country time and time -Laurene Powell Jobs
again.
A number of methods suggested and introduced across the globe, to
support media revenue, include public service advertising, direct financial pay-
ments, and tax breaks. Mandy Jenkins, general manager of the Compass Ex-
periment, said, “The goal is not only support the dissemination of news in these
communities, but also make the local operations financially self-sustaining,
through experimentation with a variety of revenue models.” Some options for
providing public funding for local journalism include tax deduction for personal
subsidies, tax offsets for production expenditures, and public funds to provide
grants.
Chicago’s City Bureau
Nate Payne, executive director of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, said,
“Americans need to begin to realize that the journalism they’ve been used to
getting at a deep discount or for free – and from which they derive and democ-
racy derives significant value – is something they’re going to have to invest in.”
A nonprofit civic journalism lab, Chicago’s City Bureau, was supported
Centuries ago, the Founding Fathers introduced postal subsidies which in 2019 by the American Journalism Project with a 3-year, $1.2 million invest-
gave newspapers lower postal rates to encourage growing a free press. In an ment in hopes of instituting a sustainable revenue model. In 2019, Chicago City
article published by Poynter, Steve Waldman wrote, “The founding generation Bureau used consulting to raise nearly $1 million from sponsorships, founda-
agreed that for the greater good of a free press, everyone would tolerate that tions, earned revenue, and individual donations. “City Bureau trained 27 report-
some newspapers they hated would get subsidized. The alternatives – either ers and placed 47 stories in the Chicago Reporter, Chicago Defender, Chicago
hyper-regulation or a lethargic press – were worse.” Magazine, Black Youth Project, Planning Magazine, the Atlantic, and others,”
reported Buni.
To avoid judgements about content, tax credits could be given for hiring
journalists and make it simpler for all newspapers to convert to nonprofit. In an In 2019, Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press, suggested
article published by Neiman Reports, Catherine Buni wrote, “Experience has implementing a tax on online ads on platforms such as Google and Facebook.
shown over many decades that…subsidies are unlikely to compromise journal- He predicted this would generate nearly $2 billion to fund a multitude of dif-
istic work as long as their providers respect democratic rules and procedures.” ferent journalism outlets. Aaron called this the ‘First Amendment Fund.’ Aaron
compared his idea of a First Amendment Fund to a carbon tax. So, in theory,
he suggests imposing a tax on activities that are socially harmful to the media.
Meaning, platforms such as Facebook would pay amounts equivalent to the
harm they cause.
4
New Jersey Civic
Information Bill
In 2018, an innovative and new approach to local journalism support
was instituted in New Jersey, named the Civic Information Consortium. The
Civic Information Consortium is a non-profit with intentions of increasing civic
engagement across the state as well as bettering local-news coverage. The
Consortium was made possible by the enactment of the New Jersey Civic In-
formation Bill. This bill was widely supported by the New Jersey Legislature in
addition to thousands of New Jersey residents. In support of this bill, residents
suggested ideas they believed would help their communities become better
informed, lobbied their representatives, and took part in a number of public fo-
rums.
In an article published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Josh
Stearns wrote, “The New Jersey Civic Information Bill…is so remarkable: The
funding will support a range of efforts and experiments from local news, to
civic technology, to government transparency, with a focus on underserved
communities…”. As the article progressed, he stated, “…because the bill was
developed with journalist and community input around a core commitment to
press freedom, it also sets up a series of checks and balances to ensure there
are multiple firewalls between the government funding and the journalism it sup-
ports.”
The Civic Information Consortium in New Jersey is a collaborative pub- “...we need more people powered
lic charity among five higher-education institutions: Montclair State University,
Rowan University, The College of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute of Tech-
nology, and Rutgers University. To apply for a grant from the Consortium, an
campaigns...so that any decisions
applicant must propose a collaboration with at least one of the higher-education
partners and one off-campus partner. In order to successfully receive the grant,
the proposal must also offer a clear benefit(s) to New Jersey communities.
about local journalism respond to
Funding for the Consortium initially came from an investment from the
state. After this investment, funding for grants will come from donations across
our needs and don’t rely on the
the United States with an additional 10-percent contribution from the five high-
er-education institutions for each grant issued. systems that have failed us.”
In an article published by Free Press, Mike Rispoli wrote, “The future of
local news is too important to be left to market forces, and the media conglom-
- Mike Rispoli
erates that got us into the local-news crisis aren’t going to get us out of it. That’s
why we need more people powered campaigns like the one behind the Civic
Info Bill in New Jersey so that any decisions about local journalism respond to
our needs and don’t rely on the systems that have failed us.”
5
A Promising Future
Despite the drastic decline in newsroom employment across the United
States in recent decades, there are many advocates across the country working
to find solutions to the impending deterioration of local journalism. The need
for public funding to support reliable media in the United States has become
evident and change is successfully taking place across the country to enable
this concept in a number of different ways. As time goes on, the future of local
newsroom employment and trustworthy coverage is promising - so long as the
people of the United States fight for public and government support of local me-
dia.
“Were it left to me to decide
whether we should have a gov-
ernment without newspapers, or
newspapers without a govern-
ment, I should not hesitate a mo-
ment to prefer the latter.”
- Thomas Jefferson
6
Bibliography
Buni, C. (2020, October 19). 4 Ways to Fund - and Save - Local Journalism. Re- Leow, Y. (2020, October 08). Why local journalism needs a funding pipeline:
trieved November 17, 2020, from https://niemanreports.org/articles/4-ways-to- RJI. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.rjionline.org/stories/
fund-and-save-journalism/ why-localjournalism-needs-a-funding-pipeline
Craig, A., & Rispoli, M. (2018). Government funds local news - and that’s a McCarthy, N., & Richter, F. (2019, July 18). Infographic: Newspapers Suffer
good thing. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from Steep Decline in Newsroom Employment. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from
https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/12/government-funds-local-news-and-thats-a- https://www.statista.com/chart/14940/the-number-of-newsroom-employees-by-
goodthing/ industry/
Glaser, M. (2019). Considering Supporting Local News as a ‘Public Good’? Rispoli, M. (2020, September 30). Why the Civic Info Consortium Is Such a
Here’s the Whole Story. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from Huge Deal. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.freepress.net/
https://knightfoundation.org/considering-supporting-local-news-as-a-pub- ourresponse/expert-analysis/insights-opinions/why-civic-info-consortium-such-
lic-goodheres-the-whole-story/ huge-deal
Grieco, E. (2020, May 31). U.S. newspapers have shed half of their newsroom Stearns, J. (2020, April 13). Philanthropy and the Future of Local News (SSIR).
employees since 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/philanthro-
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/20/u-s-newsroom-employment- py_and_the_future_of_local_news
hasdropped-by-a-quarter-since-2008/
Waldman, S. (2020, July 02). A government fund to help journalism ... that
Hendrickson, C. (2019, November 15). Local journalism in crisis: Why America wouldn’t corrupt journalism. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from
must revive its local newsrooms. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2020/a-government-fund-to-help-journa-
https://www.brookings.edu/research/local-journalism-in-crisis-why-america-mus- lismthat-wouldnt-corrupt-journalism/
trevive-its-local-newsrooms/
7
In her early life, she was faced with a number of trials and trib-
ulations which eventually resulted in severe generalized anxiety
Meet the Author and panic disorder. As she worked to overcome these, Camer-
on found writing to be a therapeutic outlet. She began writing
more and has now decided to pursue a career in writing as a
journalist for either a magazine in a big city or a newspaper in
a small town.
Currently, Cameron works for Marshall University Herd-
Vision and is a server at Whiskey Taco. Despite her love for
journalism and writing, Cameron also has a strong interest in
other cultures and countries and spends much of her free time
learning about these things. While she is pursuing a minor in
French language, she has spent a month living in Madrid, Spain
and worked at three Mexican restaurants. While there is much
room for improvement, her coworkers at Whiskey Taco help
build her Spanish vocabulary everyday and she hopes to one
day move to Portugal or Spain.
Aside from her personal goals
and accomplishments, Cam-
eron works hard to be a good
role model for her two sisters
(Kylie 17 and Layla 5) and her
brother (Maverick 1). Despite
Cameron Collins is a sophomore at Marshall University pur- a major difference in age, she
suing a multimedia journalism major with minors in graphic prioritizes making time to
design and French. She grew up in Hurricane, West Virginia visit her youngest sister and
with her younger sister, Kylie. From a young age, Cameron brother as much as possible.
expressed a strong interest in writing and travel. Some of Cam- Cameron is excited to watch
eron’s other hobbies include Appalachian Clog Dancing, roller them grow up and find who
skating, square dancing, and tennis. they are and their place in the
world.
