Two bills to reverse the loss of independent newsrooms
in Pennsylvania are on their way to introduction by State Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia).
The first bill would create and fund a Pennsylvania Civic Information Consortium to grant
public dollars to newsrooms. This bill is modeled on a New Jersey program that has distributed over $10 million in funds for local news.
The second bill would establish a state
fellowship for local news. Early-career journalists would be placed in community newsrooms where they are most needed to strengthen reporting capacity.
Rabb is asking for support for the
two measures, and plans to formally introduce them later this year.
“Local news and civic information are public goods — they deserve public dollars,” Rabb says.
“When communities lose access to independent journalism, transparency erodes, civic engagement declines, and government becomes less accountable to the people it serves."
Rabb adds:
"Reliable local reporting is tied to everything from monitoring public spending at the municipal level to fighting corruption at the highest levels of our government. The data is clear, and so is the
need."
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