In the past five months, Congress has responded to the coronavirus public health crisis with several emergency relief measures, including the stimulus checks sent to individuals and households, payroll protections to small businesses, expanded unemployment benefits, fee waivers for borrowing against 401(k) plans and more.
Now, Congress will have the opportunity to pass a relief measure that protects your access to trustworthy local news, helps grow local businesses through ads placed in local news media — and rewards you for subscribing to a newspaper like the Herald.
The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, introduced on July 16, is a bipartisan bill cosponsored by U.S. Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat from Arizona, and Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Washington state. In brief, the legislation provides for tax credits for subscribing to local newspapers, payroll credits for paying journalists who provide local news, and credit for advertising in local newspapers and local media.
The act is a response to the insidious way in which the pandemic has deeply damaged American communities in a malevolent cycle. It forced the shuttering of many local businesses that stopped advertising in their local papers. Newspapers, which have seen their revenues plummet, responded by laying off the people who bring the news or reducing the number of days on which they publish. That threatens the access to vital news for people in the community who themselves may be out of work temporarily or permanently and can no longer afford newspaper subscriptions.
Here’s how the Local Journalism Sustainability Act would help everyone caught in this vicious circle:
To see how to contact these legislators by email, phone or mail, go to https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials. You’ll be taking another important step toward helping your community and its small businesses, including the local newspaper, emerge healthy from this crisis.
Dean Ridings
CEO, America’s Newspapers
On behalf of its roughly 1,500 newspaper and associate member companies, America’s Newspapers is committed to explaining, defending and advancing the vital role of newspapers in democracy and civil life. It emphasizes educating the public on all the ways newspapers contribute to community. Learn more at www.newspapers.org.