Hundreds of wobbling local news organizations and thousands of local reporters may continue informing their communities, now that a critical measure to save local journalism is advancing in Congress.
The deal is not done yet, however. Senate approval of local journalism tax credits is still needed to save local news organizations, especially in rural areas where hundreds are expected to fail without the temporary supports.
A House vote on the Build Back Better Act, including tax credits for local news outlets, is expected before Thanksgiving followed potentially by a Senate vote in December.
Right after the House advanced the package, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell took to the Senate floor to speak on behalf of the journalism tax credits, which she co-sponsored through the Local Journalism Sustainability Act.
“As one friend of mine said, local news is like hanging a lantern on a problem so that the light shines through,” she said, adding that the tax credits are needed to keep a diversity of news sources working while problems underlying the journalism crisis, including anticompetitive online business practices, are addressed.
Cantwell said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer played a key role. “From the beginning, he understood … about it being a key part of our democracy, and we wouldn’t be at the precipice of getting support for local journalism without his support,” she said.
Meanwhile, McClatchy, the Sacramento, Calif.-based newspaper chain that owns newspapers in Tacoma, Olympia, Bellingham and Tri-Cities, and a minority stake in The Seattle Times, decided to sever its association with a nonprofit placing early career reporters at local news outlets.
As first reported by Columbia Journalism Review, McClatchy is declining to renew its partnership with Report for America.
The reason: McClatchy, which was acquired by New Jersey hedge fund Chatham Asset Management in 2020, didn’t like Report for America President Steve Waldman saying that hedge funds are wrecking local news.
McClatchy has 31 Report for America staffers, including three in Tacoma, Olympia and Tri-Cities. A source told me those reporters will be able to complete their contracts, which run two to three years, but McClatchy isn’t signing up for the next placements. A McClatchy spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Petulance or business?
That’s too bad because it should explain whether the relationship was severed because of petulance or good business reasons. Nonprofits play an increasingly large role in sustaining local news coverage, and this spat raises questions about the resilience of such relationships.
A statement provided to CJR suggested McClatchy may step up and fully cover the positions instead of relying on Report for America and local donors to cover half or more of their salaries.
“Part of the rationale behind our partnership with RFA was extending coverage,” Kristin Roberts, McClatchy’s senior vice president of news, told the magazine. “We have shown that we can and should, and these beats are now shifting into the core.”
One veteran of the program, Abbie Shull, is skeptical. Shull was a Report for America temp that The News Tribune in Tacoma used to cover Pierce County’s largest employer, the military, until she recently left for a job at Business Insider.
Shull said newsrooms are so thin, editors had little time to support the Report for America reporters. The reporters also are pressed into covering other things because the papers are so short-staffed, “so you’re not really investing in a full-time reporter covering those beats.”
If McClatchy is increasing its newsroom investment to cover the 31 beats, that’s good. But it’s only the start of what’s needed.
Brier Dudley is editor of The Seattle Times Save the Free Press Initiative. bdudley@seattletimes.com
