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.
Errin Haines
Zizi Papacharissi
j. Siguru Wahutu
S. Mitra Kalita
Joanne McNeil
Meena Thiruvengadam
Ariel Zirulnick
Ståle Grut
Burt Herman
Amara Aguilar
Simon Galperin
Alice Antheaume
Millie Tran
Kerri Hoffman
Moreno Cruz Osório
Julia Angwin
Doris Truong
Matthew Pressman
Joni Deutsch
Stefanie Murray
John Davidow
Paul Cheung
Mario García
Victor Pickard
Tamar Charney
Parker Molloy
Nikki Usher
Kristen Muller
Larry Ryckman
Janelle Salanga
Eric Nuzum
Mary Walter-Brown
Natalia Viana
Shannon McGregor Carolyn Schmitt
Anthony Nadler
Sarah Stonbely
Anika Anand
Stephen Fowler
Whitney Phillips
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Jim Friedlich
Candace Amos
David Cohn
Raney Aronson-Rath
Julia Munslow
James Green
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Joshua P. Darr
Tony Baranowski
Don Day
Izabella Kaminska
Mike Rispoli
Brian Moritz
Simon Allison
Francesco Zaffarano
Anita Varma
Catalina Albeanu
A.J. Bauer
Gabe Schneider
Matt DeRienzo
Gordon Crovitz
Shalabh Upadhyay
Joe Amditis
Jody Brannon
Andrew Freedman
Cristina Tardáguila
Sam Guzik
Chicas Poderosas
Rachel Glickhouse
Juleyka Lantigua
Tom Trewinnard
Amy Schmitz Weiss
Jonas Kaiser
Matt Karolian
Jessica Clark
Wilson Liévano
Jesse Holcomb
Michael W. Wagner
Richard Tofel
Christoph Mergerson
Jennifer Coogan
Mandy Jenkins
Cindy Royal
Christina Shih
Megan McCarthy
AX Mina
Joy Mayer
Chase Davis
Jesenia De Moya Correa
Kristen Jeffers
Laxmi Parthasarathy
Sarah Marshall
Gonzalo del Peon
Kathleen Searles Rebekah Trumble
David Skok
Cherian George
Robert Hernandez
Jennifer Brandel
Daniel Eilemberg
Melody Kramer