The continuing contraction of the news industry, particularly at the local level, has expanded the number of news deserts across the United States — and spawned efforts to reverse the tide.
While California’s ambitious-but-unsuccessful Journalism Preservation Act, along with laws like Canada’s Online News Act and Australia’s News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Act, have garnered much of the attention, a variety of less-heralded efforts underway at the state level seek to restore local journalism in communities around the U.S.
A new resource created at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism is tracking these initiatives and has identified 18 states where lawmakers have considered some manner of support for local journalism. By searching each state’s legislative archives, the resource has identified more than 60 bills that offer a variety of solutions. An interactive map brings all these policy efforts together with the aim of informing and supporting a relatively new but growing effort to revitalize local journalism.
The resource identifies several types of legislative lifelines lawmakers have proposed, including tax credits for hiring journalists, fellowship programs, and small-business advertising credits. The efforts, particularly to those who are concerned about government interventions into journalistic independence, are surprisingly innovative.
One approach, proposed in several states, is to require that a certain percentage of state advertising budgets — funds for marketing campaigns to raise awareness about state services, to publish legal notices, or to inform the public about health or other concerns — be spent with local news outlets. Connecticut lawmakers proposed a 15% requirement this year, while Maryland’s bill required 50%.
These proposed bills don’t increase taxes, but rather reallocate money that has already been budgeted, which currently often goes to digital platforms like Facebook or YouTube instead of local outlets. In other words, the money stays within the community rather than leaving the state.
Similarly, six states have or are considering grants and fellowships to support local journalism by placing more journalists in newsrooms and on beats. New Jersey, for example, passed legislation in 2018 to create the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, a grantmaking body that distributes $1 million in state funds annually to train journalists and support access to news and information sources. California is considering a similar approach, but in a public-private partnership with Google. Both New Jersey’s model and the one proposed by California create administrative boards that distribute the funds, which places some distance between politicians who may want to influence the funding process or interfere with a news organizations’ independence. There is still concern that some models leave politicians too much power to influence local news efforts. California’s proposed program, for example, would be housed in the state’s Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
Other approaches emphasize tools such as fellowships and training. Some states have provided budget-line support for journalism, but such funding can easily be cut suddenly when budgets get tight. In Washington, for example, a fellowship program was established in 2024 through a budget line that initially provided $2.4 million to be distributed through Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. Facing a tight budget in 2025, however, the program is at risk of cuts or elimination.
Ultimately, only seven of the 62 bills identified in the resource have been signed into law. The success rate of such legislation, however, is not the biggest concern. What’s needed is to identify policies that will have the greatest impact, both for reinvigorating local news organizations and for safeguarding journalistic independence.
It is common for new legislative efforts to take time to gain traction. State anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) laws, which help publishers get frivolous defamation lawsuits quickly dismissed, slowly gathered steam until recently, when the Uniform Law Commission drafted the Public Expression Protection Act, which has become law in 14 states in the past five years. Now, 38 states and Washington, D.C., have anti-SLAPP laws.
After years of experimentation, in other words, a generally acceptable model has emerged and is finding widespread adoption. That is the goal for legislative efforts to support local journalism. The aim right now is to increase awareness about these efforts, bring industry stakeholders and lawmakers together, and experiment with the best solutions.
RJI’s new resource, ideally, contributes to these efforts, as we look for ways to strengthen journalism, which helps support democracy.
Jared Schroeder organized the legislative efforts resource project and is an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. His research focuses on freedom of expression and emerging technologies.
