The importance of saving local journalism

Business struggles faced by local American journalism leave much of the county without functional news coverage.

In the past six months, five Washington daily newspapers, first four being owned by the McClatchy Corporation announced plans to print only six days a week to cut costs. Additionally, hundreds of Tribune Publishing journalists are signing a petition to restrict Alden Global Capital’s investment in the organization.

Against this bleak landscape, the Federal Communications Commission helped safeguard local journalism. A rule was created in 1975 which blocked the same owner from running a daily newspaper and television station in the same city. This rule helped preserve “viewpoint diversity.”

However, local journalism still needs better protection from finance-sector exploitation. Newspaper cutbacks should not be the norm.

To counter this, steps are being taken. Last week, the nonprofit Poynter Institute talked about different ways independent regional newspapers have evolved to meet the increasing digital needs. Report for America is another organization that is taking measures to support local journalism by granting pay for reporters to cover neglected topics in diminished newsrooms nationwide.

Thus, with these efforts, there is strong evidence that local journalism can survive and thrive.