Bay Area Congressman Reintroduces Legislation To Save Local Journalism

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Walnut Creek, and two of his fellow Congress members, Eleanor Holmes Norton from Alabama and Jamie Raskin from Maryland, reintroduced two pieces of legislation Friday aimed at supporting and preserving local journalism.

The Saving Local News Act, House Resolution 7306, would make it easier for print and online news outlets to become nonprofits, allowing them to focus more on producing quality content rather than on maximizing profits. The local news resolution, House Resolution 1005, recognizes the importance of local media outlets to society and expresses the urgent need for Congress to take action to help prevent their decline.

The reintroduction of this legislation comes as newsrooms across the country from the Los Angeles Times to the Wall Street Journal are being decimated, DeSaulnier said Friday.

"From informing the electorate to holding power to account, without a flourishing free press there is no American democracy," DeSaulnier said. "If outlets as large as the LA Times are suffering, it’s no wonder that local papers across the nation are being bought up and taken over by large corporations and dismantled in record numbers. I am proud to again introduce this legislation that would recognize and protect local journalism as the public good it is so Americans in every community across the country have access to the news they need."

In 2022, weekday print newspaper circulation fell 13 percent from the previous year according to Pew Research Center, and since 2005, the country has lost almost 2,900 newspapers, including more than 130 confirmed closings or mergers over the past year, according to Northwestern University.

To respond to this disturbing trend, DeSaulnier established a working group of dedicated members of Congress from areas particularly affected by a drought of high-quality journalism. Together they have been working to bring awareness to this crisis and to the need to promote local journalism.

This is the second time DeSaulnier has introduced this legislation; the first time was in 2021 when it was referred to the Ways and Means Committee where it died.

DeSaulnier’s bill and resolution are supported by Free Press Action, Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, PEN America, Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute, NewsGuild-CWA, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, and the National Newspaper Association.

"America is losing its local newspapers and along with them, thousands of brave journalists who keep our communities safe and informed," said Jon Schleuss, president of The NewsGuild-CWA. "We must fight against the loss of more local news outlets, which threatens our democracy. Supporting more nonprofit local news organizations that will put quality reporting and good jobs in journalism above profits is an important step in doing that work. We applaud Representative DeSaulnier's strong commitment to strengthening local journalism and supporting union journalists. Now, let's get this done for the American people and our democracy."

DeSaulnier represents California's 10th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 10th District encompasses most of the cities and communities of Contra Costa County, including Alamo, Antioch (Partial), Brentwood, Byron, Clayton, Concord, Danville, Dublin, Lafayette, Martinez (Partial), Moraga, Oakley, Orinda, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon and Walnut Creek.