119-sres152

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 152 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 152

 Designating April 2025 as ``Preserving and Protecting Local News 
 Month'' and recognizing the importance and significance of local news.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 April 1 (legislative day, March 31), 2025

 Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. King, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
 Fetterman, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Welch, Mr. Warner, 
 Mr. Schiff, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Cantwell) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
 on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Designating April 2025 as ``Preserving and Protecting Local News 
 Month'' and recognizing the importance and significance of local news.

Whereas the United States was founded on the principle of freedom of the press 
 enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
 States, which declares that ``Congress shall make no law . . . abridging 
 the freedom of speech, or of the press . . .'';
Whereas an informed citizenry depends on accurate and unbiased news reporting to 
 inform the judgment of the people;
Whereas a robust, diverse, and sustainable local news presence leads to civic 
 engagement and the buttressing of democratic norms and practices;
Whereas local news provides vital information on national, State, and local 
 elections to help United States citizens execute their civic 
 responsibility;
Whereas the absence of local news outlets and investigative reporting allows 
 local government corruption and corporate malfeasance to go unchecked;
Whereas local journalists help combat misinformation and disinformation by using 
 their community knowledge and connections to debunk fraudulent or 
 misleading content;
Whereas local cable franchises routinely provide for public educational and 
 government access channels on their systems that--

    (1) offer vital local civic programming that informs communities;

    (2) provide news and information not often available on other local 
broadcast channels or cable;

    (3) supplement local journalism; and

    (4) at times, are the only source for local news;

Whereas more than \3/4\ of United States citizens trust local news sources;
Whereas, according to researchers at the Northwestern University Medill School 
 of Journalism, the United States has lost more than 3,200 local print 
 outlets since 2005;
Whereas, according to recent research--

    (1) an average of 2.5 local print outlets are being shuttered every 
week in the United States;

    (2) more than 200 of the 3,143 counties and county equivalents in the 
United States have no local newspaper at all, creating a news shortage for 
over 3,500,000 residents of those areas;

    (3) of the remaining counties in the United States, more than \1/2\ 
have only 1 newspaper to cover populations ranging from fewer than 1,000 to 
more than 1,000,000 residents and \2/3\ have no daily newspaper, with fewer 
than 100 of these counties having a digital substitute;

    (4) more than \1/2\ of all newspapers in the United States have changed 
owners during the past decade;

    (5) as of 2024, just 10 companies, including companies with partial or 
full ownership by private equity firms and hedge funds, control \1/4\ of 
all newspapers and more than \1/2\ of all dailies in the United States;

    (6) of the surviving 5,595 newspapers in the United States, thousands 
now qualify as ``ghost newspapers'', or newspapers with reporting and 
photography staffs that are so significantly reduced that they can no 
longer provide much of the breaking news or public service journalism that 
once informed readers about vital issues in their communities;

    (7) rural counties are among the counties most deeply impacted by the 
loss of local reporting, as more than 500 of the net loss of nearly 3,200 
newspapers that have closed since 2005 are in rural counties; and

    (8) researchers at the Northwestern University Medill School of 
Journalism estimate that 279 counties across 32 States are at an elevated 
risk of becoming news deserts, which would inordinately impact high-poverty 
areas in the South, Mountain West, and Midwest, and communities with 
significant Black, Latino, and Native American populations;

Whereas, while overall employment in newspaper, television, radio, and digital 
 newsrooms dropped by roughly 26 percent, or 30,000 jobs, between 2008 
 and 2020, the plunge in newspaper newsrooms alone was much worse at 57 
 percent, or 40,000 jobs, during that same time period;
Whereas the number of news employees in the radio broadcasting industry dropped 
 by 26 percent between 2008 and 2020;
Whereas nearly 15,000 media jobs, including jobs in the newspaper industry and 
 broadcasting, were lost in 2024;
Whereas, between January and September 2024, digital-native publications and 
 legacy media outlets laid off approximately 2,500 journalists, and many 
 of those publications shuttered during the last year;
Whereas beat reporting, meaning the day-to-day coverage of a particular field 
 that allows a journalist to develop expertise and cultivate sources, has 
 ceased to be a viable career for would-be journalists due to the 
 decimation of newsroom budgets;
Whereas requests submitted under 

section 552 of title 5, United States Code 
 (commonly referred to as ``Freedom of Information Act requests''), by 
 local newspapers to local, State, and Federal agencies fell by nearly 50 
 percent between 2005 and 2010, demonstrating a significant drop in the 
 extent to which local reporters request government records;
Whereas, according to the Pew Research Center, newspapers in the United States 
 saw a decline in advertising revenue of almost 60 percent between 2013 
 and 2023;
Whereas the sponsorship revenue of all-news radio stations dropped by 25 percent 
 between 2019 and 2021;
Whereas there remains a significant gender disparity in newsroom employment, 
 with women comprising approximately \1/3\ of staff who are 30 years of 
 age or older;
Whereas women who are local television news anchors and reporters, especially 
 women of color, are often subject to harassment and stalking;
Whereas, across the United States, there are nearly 300 media outlets that 
 primarily serve Black communities, and, in recent years, many of those 
 newspapers have seen--

    (1) significant losses in advertising revenue as small businesses in 
their communities were forced to close; and

    (2) declines in circulation due to the closures of businesses in their 
communities;

Whereas the number of Black journalists working at daily newspapers dropped by 
 40 percent between 1997 and 2014, more than for any other demographic 
 group, and the exodus of journalists from local news outlets exacerbated 
 by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, and declining news 
 readership and circulation, has been disproportionately borne by Black 
 constituencies;
Whereas the number of print media sources published by and for Native American 
 readers has shrunk dramatically in recent years, from 700 media outlets 
 in 1998 to only 200 in 2018;
Whereas Tribally-owned news outlets are often dependent on Tribal governments 
 for funding, but most of those outlets lack the policy structure 
 necessary to fully protect journalistic independence;
Whereas a 2018 survey by the Native American Journalists Association found that 
 83 percent of respondents believed that Native press coverage of Tribal 
 government affairs was sometimes, frequently, or always censored;
Whereas there are more than 620 Latino news media outlets in the United States, 
 including more than 275 independently owned print publications, and 
 collectively those news media outlets primarily rely on a declining 
 advertising revenue base;
Whereas the lack of local news impacts communities that speak languages other 
 than English, which are often excluded from national media coverage;
Whereas investments in local journalism have mainly focused on larger media 
 markets, contributing to inequities and a journalistic divide between 
 affluent and low-income communities;
Whereas student journalists, at the college and high school level, have stepped 
 in to play an important role reporting on their local communities 
 despite the lack of educational resources and support;
Whereas the Pew Research Center reports that nearly 1 in 10 statehouse reporters 
 are student journalists;
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic took a substantial economic toll on the local news 
 industry, contributing to budget cuts, staff layoffs, and scores of 
 newsroom closures, from which the industry has yet to fully recover, as 
 epitomized by mass layoffs and closures at several local news outlets in 
 the 50 States and the District of Columbia since 2023;
Whereas PEN America proposed ``a major reimagining of the local news space'' in 
 its 2019 call-to-action report, ``Losing the News: The Decimation of 
 Local Journalism and the Search for Solutions'', and called on society 
 and the Federal Government to urgently address the alarming demise of 
 local journalism; and
Whereas, half a century ago, Congress perceived that the commercial television 
 industry would not independently provide the educational and public 
 interest broadcasting that was appropriate and necessary for the United 
 States, and, informed by an independent report prepared by the Carnegie 
 Commission on Educational Television, created the Corporation for Public 
 Broadcasting, which has since ensured that radio and television include 
 public interest educational and reporting programs using annually 
 appropriated funds: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the Senate--

    (1) designates April 2025 as ``Preserving and Protecting 
 Local News Month'';

    (2) affirms that local news serves an essential function in 
 the democracy of the United States;

    (3) recognizes local news as a public good; and

    (4) acknowledges the valuable contributions of local 
 journalism towards the maintenance of healthy and vibrant 
 communities.
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