local news
Pittsburgh Stands Up for Media Reform
Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps will be the first to tell you that his own agency needs to do more to improve the country’s media system. Last Monday, he told a room full of Pittsburgh residents that a key part of the remedy is citizen action.
“If we are to ever have media of the people, by the people and for the people, you need to take this fight on,” Copps told the crowd at a town hall-style dialogue sponsored by Free Press. “The stakes could not be higher ... If we are denied quality news and information, if we are denied in-depth investigative reporting and if we are denied a media environment wherein independent voices can speak and be heard, then we won’t be able to sustain an
informed electorate.”
Free Press Tells the FCC: Time for Media Transparency
At today’s FCC hearing on the Information Needs of Communities, Free Press Policy Counsel Corie Wright made the case for why we need a new era of broadcaster transparency. Through a few simple changes, Wright argues, the FCC could make available vital information about how the media serve local communities — and enable citizens, journalists and public interest groups to hold media accountable.
The text of Corie Wright’s speech, delivered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University, follows below.
State of the News Media
On Monday, the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) released its annual “State of the News Media” study. The study covers a lot of ground, providing data about readership/viewership, ad revenues, ownership, journalism jobs, and content across every news medium, be it print, broadcast or digital. During the next few weeks, we’ll be diving deeper into the data, bringing you our analysis of how all this research can inform the media reform movement.
The increasing dominance of the Internet as a news platform gets a lot of attention in the study. Let’s take a look at some of the media policy implications of what they found.
Local News Goes Mobile
No More Bleeding Ledes, Please
Sensationalism is rampant in our consolidated news system, where scandal, celebrity gossip and violence (or the threat of looming violence) lead the headlines. Ever wonder why this is all we see and read and hear?
It isn’t simply that scandal and violence are all that’s happening in our communities; in fact, it’s the only news that companies want to cover. And they make it expressly clear to their reporters.
Keeping Local News Flowing
Local news was a focal point at the recent FTC workshop, “How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?" Reed Hundt reported on the Knight Commission recommendations and emphasized the role of local news in promoting the traditional U.S. policy goal of localism both in newspapers and in broadcasting. Matthew Gentzkow reported on his study that the entry and exit of newspapers from local communities have the most pronounced effect on voter participation in local elections. Tom Rosenstiel emphasized again that local newspapers have more reporters on the ground to cover local news stories than all other local news entities combined, and drew the logical conclusion: Economic threats to local newspapers strike at the heart of the availability of information concerning the issues of public importance to local communities.
Call Your Rep Today for Better Radio
There’s a bill moving through Congress right now that could open up the airwaves to thousands of new community journalists and reporting projects. The Local Community Radio Act will unleash a new wave of low power FM radio stations run by local organizations and nonprofits.
End the Big Broadcast Swindle
The FCC is reviewing its media ownership rules and needs to hear from you. Tell the FCC we need rules that serve the public, not big broadcasters.
Change the Channels
Check out the interactive map to see consolidating newsrooms near you.
