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.
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Matt DeRienzo
Stephen Fowler
Millie Tran
Joy Mayer
Jesenia De Moya Correa
Joe Amditis
Candace Amos
Kathleen Searles Rebekah Trumble
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Sarah Stonbely
Julia Angwin
Alice Antheaume
Robert Hernandez
Gordon Crovitz
Jesse Holcomb
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Shannon McGregor Carolyn Schmitt
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Joanne McNeil
Cherian George
Megan McCarthy
Melody Kramer
Gabe Schneider
Victor Pickard
Janelle Salanga
A.J. Bauer
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Catalina Albeanu
Wilson Liévano
Jody Brannon
Raney Aronson-Rath
David Cohn
Meena Thiruvengadam
John Davidow
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Jim Friedlich
Paul Cheung
S. Mitra Kalita
Daniel Eilemberg
Tony Baranowski
David Skok
Brian Moritz
Nikki Usher
Kristen Muller
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James Green
Simon Galperin
Don Day
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Joni Deutsch
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Errin Haines
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Richard Tofel
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Jennifer Coogan
Larry Ryckman
Tamar Charney
Jessica Clark
Matt Karolian
Sam Guzik
Natalia Viana
Kristen Jeffers
Mary Walter-Brown
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Michael W. Wagner
Kerri Hoffman
Jennifer Brandel
Mike Rispoli
Ståle Grut
Anthony Nadler
Joshua P. Darr
Chase Davis
Julia Munslow
Doris Truong
Christina Shih
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Mario García
Amara Aguilar
Jonas Kaiser
Andrew Freedman
Ariel Zirulnick
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Gonzalo del Peon
Tom Trewinnard
Amy Schmitz Weiss
Zizi Papacharissi
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Whitney Phillips
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