Was Live Fri, Feb 2, 2023
Guest Speakers:
- Steven Waldman, Founder and President of Rebuild Local News and Co-Founder and former President of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms across the U.S.
- Ryan Adam, Vice President of Government and Public Relations for the Toronto Star who was actively involved in gaining enactment of Canada’s Online News Act (Bill C-18), a bargaining code which helps secure tech company compensation to publishers for their content.
- Brittney Barsotti, General Counsel, California Newspaper Publishers Association, who tracks media legislation, including California AB 886 (dubbed California Journalism Preservation Act) to support local journalism.
- Ethnic media publishers representing AAPI, Black and Latino news media.
Related Coverage
Event Overview
Devastating layoffs at the LA Times and many other news outlets, along with growing news deserts, are fueling growing uncertainty about the future of local journalism — even about the future of news itself. The amount of advertising to local newspapers declined 82% – a $40 billion drop – since 2000, according to the Pew Research Center. This briefing will explore current initiatives to rescue local journalism through various forms of taxpayer support and other public policies.
Several ethnic news media publishers will share their views and inquire about how and whether these plans advance equity for the ethnic media sector which is indispensable to the ecosystem for reaching traditionally underserved audiences but is often excluded from discussions about local journalism.
