The well-documented struggles of the local journalism industry, ranging from layoffs and shuttering outlets to declining readerships and newspaper subscription losses, prompted state legislators to step in and offer some potential relief.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recently enacted budget, with bipartisan support, made room to financially bolster local broadcast, print, and ethnic media with $30 million annually in payroll tax credits for the next three years.
The move to include the Newspaper and Broadcast Media Jobs Program was an eleventh-hour decision in this year’s budget, according to state lawmakers, but a critical one. The program adds a tax credit for qualifying, independently owned print media or broadcasting outlets “including those that have experienced workforce or circulation decline in the last five years.”
New York Amsterdam News Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Elinor R. Tatum said, “Having this legislation passed as part of the budget is a gamechanger for media across the state and will allow for sustainability and potentially the opportunity for growth in an industry that has been struggling for many years.”
The budget sets aside $26 million for staff retention, and helps pay half of a reporter’s salary (up to $50,000 each year) with a cap of $300,000 per newsroom. It also earmarks $4 million to dole out a $5,000 credit per newsroom to hire new employees.
“[As] a Black female business owner, so often when there are either incentives or tax credits for businesses, media is left out of those opportunities and here we finally have something made for media, which I think is so important when we’re talking about an organ that helps preserve democracy,” Tatum added.
Local news outlets historically have been the first to break news on a crisis or disease, and are watchdogs in neighborhoods plagued by environmental issues, high rents and taxes, and systemic racism. But numerous studies have highlighted the consequences, particularly for communities of color, that come when news and political coverage disappears at the community level. Decreases in voter turnout and engagement, fewer people running for office—particularly Black candidates—and an erosion of trust in sources of information are just a few of the consequences of the growing news desert and an increase in political polarization.
The media jobs program is modeled after the New York Local Journalism Sustainability Act (S625D), which is sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Carrie Woerner. The bill was first introduced in the Senate in 2021. Zachary Richner, a news publishing executive and founder of the Empire State Local News Coalition, later helped electeds to amend the legislation.
“I’m elated that our first-in-the-nation local journalism tax credit passed as part of the state budget. In communities all across New York State, newspapers and local broadcast stations have had to close by the dozens in recent years,” said Hoylman-Sigal in a statement. “That presents a problem not only for elected officials like me, who rely on the work of local news outlets to keep our constituents informed, but for our whole democracy as well.”
New York City electeds have historically been proactive in their efforts to preserve local media coverage.
In 2019, former Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an executive order mandating agencies to spend at least half of their advertising budgets with community media outlets, leading to a $9.9 million cash infusion for the industry. That financial cushion helped local outlets reach their communities during the onslaught of the pandemic, according to the City University of New York (CUNY) Center for Community Media (CCM). Community-based publishers in the city published an open letter commending de Blasio and calling for the state to follow suit. By 2021, city council approved the creation of the Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media, a first in the nation. Mayor Eric Adams has held to his effort to have ongoing dialogue with community and ethnic media.
The succession of events in New York City left the state lagging behind in counties outside of it. Hoylman-Sigal said this was greatly evidenced when George Santos, who was eventually brought up on criminal charges and left office, was elected on Long Island in 2022.
“Some of my colleagues have dubbed this credit the ‘George Santos Prevention Act’ because many believe it was the lack of local press coverage that enabled Santos to spin his web of lies undetected and ultimately be elected two years ago,” said Hoylman-Sigal. “Whatever you call it, our new tax credit will help preserve and create good jobs that are important to the success of the local news industry and the long-term health of our democracy.”
Richner was working on a federal bill in DC to help local media, which inspired Hoylman-Sigal’s bill, he said. His news coalition has been instrumental in pushing for state legislation.
“We’re facing a ton of headwinds right now and when a community loses their local newspaper it’s just really bad anyway you slice it,” Richner said. He said he believes community papers can help heal divisive political narratives and are central to preserving a healthy democracy.
“The first step is to stem the tide of closures when you have so many closing each month in our state. We just have to stop the bleeding and then focus on growth and the way that this is set up incentivizes that.”
Other bills aimed at revitalizing local news outlets have also been introduced in the Senate and Assembly in 2023 and 2024, namely the Community Media Reinvestment Act (S2581A/A5900), the Local, Community, and Ethnic Media Commitment Act (S6495A/A6879), and Bill S8132/A9380, which establishes a state office for ethnic and community media.
“The bill should provide urgently needed help to community news organizations like the Amsterdam News to enable them to do more coverage of schools, health care, gun violence, and other urgent topics,” said Rebuild Local News President Steven Waldman, who is also the co-founder of Report for America (RFA).
[updated May 9]
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.