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policy | Aug 28, 2025

Does the decline of local news influence our politics? This former U.S. Senator thinks so Decreased ticket splitting, less accountability more common with local news outlets disappearing

by Eric Rynston-Lobel

When Montana voters sent Jon Tester to the United States Senate for the first time in 2006, the Democratic Party also won Senate elections in North Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginia. At the time, the party’s senators also included members from Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana and South Dakota. Republicans, meanwhile, represented states including Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon and Virginia. Nearly 20 years later, Maine is the only one...

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news policy data | Aug 7, 2025

Illinois Newsrooms Receive $4 Million from State

by John Volk | volk_maps

Forty Illinois local news entities operating 120 outlets are receiving $4 million in state tax credits under a new law designed to encourage the retention and hiring of journalists, according to documents released this week. The organizations that have received credits represent a cross section of Illinois’ local news ecosystem, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Medill Local News Initiative. They span major legacy organizations, small community newspapers, digital...

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policy | Jun 26, 2025

Tech Giants Win Again An Oregon Bill Requiring Tech Platforms to Compensate Local News Stalls in Senate

by Brier Dudley

An Oregon policy that could have created a model for saving local journalism died in Legislature, amid another round of newsroom layoffs in the state. An Oregon proposal that would have saved newsroom jobs and revived its ailing local-news industry died on Tuesday. Oregon was poised to set a precedent and become the first state requiring tech giants to fairly compensate publishers for the value local news ads to their online platforms. But a slim majority...

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policy | Jun 2, 2025

Trump’s Public Radio Cuts Could Mean Calamity for Local Outlets Smaller stations would face major cutbacks; some wouldn’t survive

by Paul Farhi

As Hurricane Helene ravaged the mountain communities of western North Carolina last fall, Blue Ridge Public Radio remained a beacon in the storm. With power knocked out throughout the region, the organization turned to portable generators to keep its two stations on the air. For days during and after the deluge, BPR was the only source of lifesaving news: weather updates, road closures, potable water locations. BPR now confronts a different kind of calamity. Ele...

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policy | May 5, 2025

The Big Tech News Bills Five states join California in pursuing compensation from Google and Meta for local journalism

by Hannah Carroll

Oregon, Washington State, Illinois, Hawaii and New York all have proposed legislation this year to recoup money from Big Tech platforms, mainly Google and Meta, for revenue gained from publishing local news content. These bills follow California’s handshake deal with Google, announced last August, that would allocate about $125 million over five years from the state and Google toward California’s local journalism. Additional funds would establish a National AI Accelerator. This deal designated the UC...

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policy | Oct 28, 2024

A Big Tech Local News Precedent? New York, Illinois among states waiting to see how California-Google deal shakes out

by Hannah Carroll

As California works to finalize a settlement with Google that could allocate about $250 million toward local journalism, legislators in other states are considering  whether to follow California's lead or to continue to pursue revenue-sharing bills on their own. As announced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks in late August, California’s deal would allocate about $250 million over five years from the state and Google toward journalism across California. Google would provide about $110 million, and the state would...

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policy | Feb 19, 2024

‘The Most Ambitious Package of Local Journalism Policy’ New Illinois bills propose incentives to fund news organizations, repopulate newsrooms

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

The ailing local news industry in Illinois would receive compensation from Big Tech companies and benefit from state tax incentives and a new journalism scholarship program under sweeping legislation introduced in the General Assembly this month. “It is the most ambitious package of local journalism policy that I’ve seen,” Anna Brugmann, policy director for the nonprofit Rebuild Local News, said of two bills introduced by State Sen. Steve Stadelman, a Democrat who chaired the bipartisan...

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policy | Jan 18, 2024

Applying Breaks to a Crisis Illinois task force suggests tax credits, incentives, other steps to boost local journalism

by Rick Reger

The bipartisan Illinois Local Journalism Task Force has announced a series of possible legislative steps, including tax credits, exemptions, grants and other measures, to address a local news crisis that has hit the state particularly hard. “Illinois has lost 232 newspapers since 2005,” Task Force Chair and Illinois State Sen. Steve Stadelman said at the Jan. 17 news conference announcing the recommendations, which are included in a newly released task force report on the issue. “The state has lost 85% of...

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