Two hundred years from now, there will be no hunger, poverty, or homelessness. Everyone will have access to the healthcare and education they need to live their best lives. Communities will be deeply connected. Mass incarceration will be a thing of the past. The environment will be cherished and white supremacy extinct.
What will local news look like then? And how are we building toward that future today?
One thing we know is we won’t reach utopia on the back of commercial media.
There will be no solution to the local news crisis or its deleterious effects on democratic institutions without the creation of an alternative public system to meet the news and information needs of working people.
With few exceptions, commercial news media is a financial instrument of the ultra-wealthy, leveraged for their profit or power at the expense of journalists and consumers alike.
When Alden Global Capital made a bid to buy Lee Enterprises, owner of 90 American dailies, Lee’s board of directors took a stand against the hedge fund known for pillaging newsrooms and exacerbating social problems in the communities it operates. After the board voted unanimously to oppose the purchase, board chairman Mary Junck elaborated on the decision. “The Alden proposal grossly undervalues Lee and fails to recognize the strength of our business today,” Junck said.
Journalism leaders called for Lee to fend off the vulture hedge fund in order to help preserve a democratic press. Lee told Alden they’d just need a higher return to sell us out.
Those same journalism leaders call on us to trust establishment media to respond to the crises their profiteering has wrought, and to subsidize them with our tax dollars to boot.
Profit is the raison d’être of commercial media. We cannot bet our bottom dollar on institutions and people that have consistently undermined the public good for their investors’ benefit. We must build an alternative system that treats access to local news and information as a right, a critical component of a democratic society and a sustainable economy, a keystone of a functional community.
In 2022, we’ll admit the market won’t save us. That it will take local, state, and federal investments in new public alternatives to inspire a resurgence in local news and civic participation.
The heyday of journalism is ahead of us. In 2022, we lay the foundation for that future.
Simon Galperin is founding director of the Community Info Coop.
Two hundred years from now, there will be no hunger, poverty, or homelessness. Everyone will have access to the healthcare and education they need to live their best lives. Communities will be deeply connected. Mass incarceration will be a thing of the past. The environment will be cherished and white supremacy extinct.
What will local news look like then? And how are we building toward that future today?
One thing we know is we won’t reach utopia on the back of commercial media.
There will be no solution to the local news crisis or its deleterious effects on democratic institutions without the creation of an alternative public system to meet the news and information needs of working people.
With few exceptions, commercial news media is a financial instrument of the ultra-wealthy, leveraged for their profit or power at the expense of journalists and consumers alike.
When Alden Global Capital made a bid to buy Lee Enterprises, owner of 90 American dailies, Lee’s board of directors took a stand against the hedge fund known for pillaging newsrooms and exacerbating social problems in the communities it operates. After the board voted unanimously to oppose the purchase, board chairman Mary Junck elaborated on the decision. “The Alden proposal grossly undervalues Lee and fails to recognize the strength of our business today,” Junck said.
Journalism leaders called for Lee to fend off the vulture hedge fund in order to help preserve a democratic press. Lee told Alden they’d just need a higher return to sell us out.
Those same journalism leaders call on us to trust establishment media to respond to the crises their profiteering has wrought, and to subsidize them with our tax dollars to boot.
Profit is the raison d’être of commercial media. We cannot bet our bottom dollar on institutions and people that have consistently undermined the public good for their investors’ benefit. We must build an alternative system that treats access to local news and information as a right, a critical component of a democratic society and a sustainable economy, a keystone of a functional community.
In 2022, we’ll admit the market won’t save us. That it will take local, state, and federal investments in new public alternatives to inspire a resurgence in local news and civic participation.
The heyday of journalism is ahead of us. In 2022, we lay the foundation for that future.
Simon Galperin is founding director of the Community Info Coop.
AX Mina
Stephen Fowler
Joni Deutsch
Robert Hernandez
Don Day
Jesenia De Moya Correa
John Davidow
David Skok
Parker Molloy
Sarah Marshall
Joshua P. Darr
Nikki Usher
Juleyka Lantigua
Daniel Eilemberg
Mary Walter-Brown
Stefanie Murray
Anthony Nadler
Jennifer Brandel
Francesco Zaffarano
Victor Pickard
A.J. Bauer
Tony Baranowski
Ariel Zirulnick
Brian Moritz
Laxmi Parthasarathy
Kathleen Searles Rebekah Trumble
Millie Tran
Matt DeRienzo
Zizi Papacharissi
Joanne McNeil
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Jesse Holcomb
Izabella Kaminska
Joe Amditis
Meena Thiruvengadam
Janelle Salanga
Natalia Viana
Christoph Mergerson
Melody Kramer
Jim Friedlich
Cindy Royal
Shalabh Upadhyay
Jonas Kaiser
Shannon McGregor Carolyn Schmitt
Jessica Clark
Kerri Hoffman
Simon Allison
Paul Cheung
Chase Davis
Rachel Glickhouse
Catalina Albeanu
Mandy Jenkins
Tamar Charney
Jennifer Coogan
Sarah Stonbely
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Whitney Phillips
Anika Anand
James Green
Kristen Jeffers
Amy Schmitz Weiss
S. Mitra Kalita
Burt Herman
Cristina Tardáguila
Matt Karolian
Julia Munslow
Cherian George
Amara Aguilar
Andrew Freedman
Mario García
Larry Ryckman
Ståle Grut
Gonzalo del Peon
Raney Aronson-Rath
Joy Mayer
Simon Galperin
Jody Brannon
j. Siguru Wahutu
David Cohn
Eric Nuzum
Matthew Pressman
Julia Angwin
Megan McCarthy
Candace Amos
Kristen Muller
Michael W. Wagner
Mike Rispoli
Gordon Crovitz
Doris Truong
Sam Guzik
Errin Haines
Anita Varma
Richard Tofel
Tom Trewinnard
Wilson Liévano
Moreno Cruz Osório
Chicas Poderosas
Gabe Schneider
Alice Antheaume
Christina Shih