When faced with emergencies in public health, in public safety and in public education, Americans have responded with measures proportionate to the challenges at hand. Such a moment has arrived for the public-information systems on which our democracy depends.
It has been less than four months, and 2024 has already been a rough year for the media industry. Vice Media laid off several hundred workers. Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and many others have made similar moves. Local outlets also continue to be hit, with outlets like the Long Beach Post making massive cuts to its newsroom.
As anyone following the industry recognizes, this trend isn’t new. A recent study from Northwestern’s Local News Initiative summarized what’s happened in the last two decades: A third of U.S. newspapers have closed down altogether, resulting in 43,000 total jobs lost at all levels of journalism.
It might seem that the easy and obvious answer for journalism is to reinvent its business model. For the last few decades, news innovators at all levels have been trying exactly that. It is well past time to recognize that something more fundamental needs to change. Specifically, journalism should be protected against the extremes of market unpredictability altogether — as many other sectors already are.
In 2008, the federal government acted to save the auto industry, and in 2022 Washington stepped in to ensure the nation’s semiconductor industry remains competitive. Preventing the continued collapse of media should be addressed in a similar fashion. Journalism does not need a “bailout.” It needs public policy that recognizes that not everything that is vital to democracy emerges naturally from the whims of the market. That’s why a project we are involved with at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently proposed ideas to stabilize the industry.
The centerpiece of our idea — also articulated by Steven Waldman, head of the Rebuild Local News coalition — is that journalism needs to be treated more like critical infrastructure. Highways, museums, libraries, courts, public-safety agencies, the military, advanced research centers and other vital institutions are not ordinarily expected to pay for themselves. They are aided by government and philanthropy because of their contributions as a political watchdog, civic connector and source for trusted information.
Media organizations — especially local media organizations — should be treated more like libraries than like limited liability companies. One way to do so is to provide news organizations with a tax credit for hiring local journalists. The main challenge for media organizations today is collecting and reporting the news with adequate reporting staff. The supply of potential new reporters is strong, but budget constraints mean newsrooms’ ability to hire is low.
At the federal level, we propose a national trust for local news to allow communities to keep control of their newspapers, rather than being bought by larger media companies. This model is already proving successful in the Denver area, where local nonprofits created the Colorado News Conservancy.
Lawmakers should also take a hard look at media ownership and make moves to encourage hedge funds and private equity firms to unwind their take in media companies. Hedge funds and other financial firms control half of the daily newspapers in the United States. They often buy outlets and immediately move to drastically slash their newsroom staff. Many of these entities invested heavily in media companies when profits were high but now view news organizations as just another “troubled asset” to be stripped and sold off.
This trend could involve the transfer of media organizations to more-sustainable ownership. We should encourage this change by offering one-time capital gains tax credits for investors when media companies are sold to nonprofits.
The country shouldn’t accept the devastation of the media industry as part of the ebb and flow of economic change. The loss of journalism bears no resemblance to the industrialization of the agriculture industry, which resulted in both fewer farmers and more affordable foodstuffs. The media industry that is dying isn’t being replaced by better, more accurate information or closer scrutiny of government, business and industry.
Instead, local journalism is being replaced by deeply problematic online content rife with misinformation. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults say misinformation is leading to more extreme political views and behaviors. Social media seems to be exacerbating this problem, with a 2020 Pew study finding that those relying on social media for their news were less engaged and knowledgeable about current events.
These ideas are only the beginning of a desperately needed debate. When faced with emergencies in public health, in public safety and in public education, Americans have responded with measures proportionate to the challenges at hand. Such a moment has arrived for the public-information systems on which our democracy depends.
Jim Fallows is an author, journalist and former White House speechwriter. Jonathan D. Cohen is the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Senior Program Officer for American Institutions, Society, and the Public Good at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
