Though we’ve barely had time for cake and candles, we did celebrate a birthday recently. The Wallkill Valley Times, which first rolled off the presses of the Walden Printing Company on February 23, 1983, is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. Whether we see another 40 - or even another five or 10 years - may depend on help from the legislators we seek to hold accountable.
The “Local Journalism Sustainability Act” (S625A/A2958A). is being considered as part of the state budget due to be adopted on or about April 1. If passed, the act would provide tax credits over the next five years to newspaper publishers across the state for the purpose of employing full-time reporters and editors. It also provides a personal income tax credit for subscribers, up to $250 annually.
Why do we need it? The business model that existed in 1983 is long gone. Print advertising from local and regional businesses has largely vanished. The majority of dollars invested in digital goes to Facebook and Google; neither employ professional journalists or are an acceptable default medium for providing local news.
According to the New York News Publishers Association, New York State saw its number of daily newspapers drop from 62 to 54 between 2004 and 2019. The loss was even more staggering for weekly newspapers across the Empire State, as the number plunged, during those same 15 years, from 439 in 2004 to 249 in 2019.
Why do you need it? Some researchers argue that the loss of local news outlets diminishes not just knowledge of local happenings and politics, but also ties within a community. The result is a simultaneous erosion of civility and less engagement in democracy close to home. With no one to hold them accountable, local governments become less efficient in their use of your tax dollars. Local newspapers also build community by encouraging regional economic growth and encourage social cohesion and political activism by localizing national and regional issues such as health care, gun control and the opioid crisis.
The Local Journalism Sustainability Act will strengthen and reinvigorate journalism in New York at a critical time. It will ensure that your local newspapers and websites will always be there to tell you what’s going on, what you need to know, and what you ought to know.
We urge the state legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul to make this act part of the state budget both now and in the years to come.