News organizations would then be incentivized to add jobs, in turn, returning reporters to many of the state’s newsrooms, which are fast becoming increasingly barren.

The bill, originally introduced in 2021, was recently included in the New York State Senate’s “One House” budget resolution — a major sign of its growing support in the legislature.

Its most recent version was amended to reflect changes that the Senate Majority Conference requested. Under this version, an “eligible news journalist employer” employing 100 or fewer journalists would receive a 50% tax credit against the first $50,000 of each newsroom employee’s salary — and be eligible for up to $200,000 credit in total.

Local news in crisis

“The headline for today, since we are talking about local news, is that ‘local news in New York is in crisis,’” explained Zachary Richner as he addressed the crowd.

Richner is founder of the Empire State Local News Coalition — a statewide advocacy group of more than 150 local news outlets whose mission is to advocate for sound public policy that ensures the work of local news organizations can continue across New York State.

Richner pointed out that 50% of newspapers in New York State have closed since 2004 — “and 25% of our counties are news deserts.”

“That said, I certainly hope that the elected officials of the legislature and Governor Hochul include the Local Journalism Sustainability Act in this year’s state budget,” he added.

In a recent article published in newspapers across the state, Dozier Hasty, publisher of this newspaper and website, was quoted about the importance of this issue: “More than ever, we still need local, responsible organizations which collect, research and disperse, for public edification, the news and information vital to a community. These organizations are independent local newspapers. Thanks to the internet and social media, many disparate personal and specialty niches build audiences among themselves, often casually; they can be vital and entertaining within the niche. But the serious job, the mission of serving a broad, inclusive community of neighbors, falls on the shoulders of traditional local newspapers. The best ones are of, for and about local people and issues, and they serve by following dependable schedules, no matter how slow business might be in a particular period. Supporting them and sharing information with them can give exponential returns.”

A no-brainer? 

Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, 47th District (Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, Midtown, Upper West Side, Times Square and Columbus Circle), one of the sponsors of the bill, said that the LJSA seems to be a no-brainer, and a win-win for everyone involved. 

“There is widespread support for this bill among Republicans and Democrats,” Hoylman-Sigal told the Brooklyn Eagle, adding that “Now is the right time, because of the fact that we’ve seen, statistically, the decimation of so many newsrooms across the state.”

“Since 2004, the country has lost nearly 3,000 newspapers,” he pointed out. “And in that time period, more than 40,000 journalists have lost their jobs — including over 3,000 last year, and over 500 in January 2024 alone.” 

Hoylman-Sigal also explained that, in New York State, the numbers are dismal as well.

“In 2023, we lost 29 local news publications — and since 2005, the number of reporters in New York State have decreased by over 50%,” he said. “This is, without a doubt, a full blown crisis. 

“But we have the opportunity to give help to a much-needed industry that is under siege. This will be a win for our local communities, a win for local economic development and a win for democracy.”

As for a timeline, Hoylman-Sigal said the LJSA is going to be negotiated as part of the final budget.

“We expect the budget to be completed by the end of April. So we will know by then whether or not it makes it in.”

Getting it done

Sen. Monica Martinez, Fourth District (Representing West Babylon, Deer Park, North Bay Shore, Brentwood, and Central Islip), who also made an appearance at the event, said that local news is where everything happens. 

“That’s where people find out what we as elected officials are doing in our communities that we are so proud to represent,” she noted. “We really need to take care of our local journalism.”

Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, 22nd District (Representing Valley Stream, Elmont, Floral Park, the Village of Bellerose, North Woodmere, Stewart Manor and sections of Franklin Square) explained that she sees no shortage of “tax breaks” for other entities — “so let’s do tax breaks for our local journalists.” 

“We also have to combat this growing social media that is spreading misinformation,” Solages said. “Our local papers are here; they are objective, they provide necessary information and we need to preserve that.”

Assemblymember David Weprin, 24th District (Representing Northeastern Queens), said he strongly supports this tax credit, adding, “Who else can deliver news at a local level better than local journalists?”

Adam Stone, founder and publisher of Examiner Media, said, “We as an industry need to thrive, not just survive.”

“My company skates by right now, but that’s not enough,” Stone continued. “Every week, there are countless stories that we don’t cover because we simply do not have enough reporters, photographers, editors and fact checkers. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act is a way to hire and keep journalists — allowing them to thrive in a way that they did for so many years.”

Capital Region Independent Media Publisher Mark Vinciguerra referred to LJSA as “essential” and “very affordable” — and said the time to do it is right now.

“I also believe that local journalism brings communities together,” Vinciguerra noted. “It encourages community building and breaks down partisanship as well.”

Hoylman-Sigal said he hopes his colleagues in the Assembly and the governor herself will see the benefits of the LJSA. 

“But it will ultimately be up to the Senate negotiators to make that case,” he pointed out. “However, I think they will have a strong argument based on what we heard here today.”