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FOR WESTCHESTER RESIDENTS ONLY. Created by the Westchester-based founders of Qiqo.org

New York newspapers face an existential crisis. Lawmakers must step up to preserve local news and safeguard our democracy. 

Background

A few weeks ago, we lost three newspapers critical to our communities here in Westchester: The Scarsdale Inquirer, Rivertowns Enterprise, and Bedford Record-Review. In response, three hundred residents joined a Zoom meeting to discuss what can be done. Now over 600 residents are engaged around next steps. This petition represents one of those key next steps. The closures of these three papers are the latest in the decades-long decline of local news. Since 2004, more than 3,000 newspapers across the country have shuttered.  In 2004, New York was home to 501 newspapers; now it's down to just 260. Thirty newspapers closed across New York in 2022 alone.  One quarter of all counties in New York state are now qualify as "news deserts" with either 1 or 0 newspapers.  These concerning trends show no signs of letting up.

Necessary Legislation

We ask Governor Hochul and state lawmakers to pass the Local Journalism Sustainability Act (S.625B / A.2958C). This bipartisan bill provides tax credits to local news outlets for the employment of local news journalists. This will incentivize outlets to not only preserve jobs but also to add jobs, returning reporters to many of the state's emptying newsrooms. The bill is designed to help the hometown news outlets that serve communities like ours. We ask our legislators to ensure this bill includes specific protections for smaller newsrooms to ensure they receive this tax credit and that they are not last in line behind national broadcasters.  Additionally, we believe this legislation is a tremendously important first step, and we also want to see future legislation which will specifically help nonprofit newsrooms. Conclusion

We need local news. Without it, we lose access to vital information and a core part of our local identity.  The decline of local news has an adverse impact on our economic and civic lives.  National research has found that when communities lose their local news source, there is decreased civic engagement, transparency, accountability, and voter turnout, while at the same time increasing polarization, and government borrowing costs which increases taxes.

We the undersigned urge our lawmakers to pass the Local Journalism Sustainability Act.

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