Off-Topic Tuesday: Streetsblog Joins Campaign for Public Financing of Non-Profit Media - Streetsblog New York City

"Jim Heaney, the editor of the Buffalo-based Investigative Post, is leading a campaign for New York State to issue grants to non-profit newsrooms, which are ineligible for tax credits that benefit for-profit newspapers and television stations. Heaney recently opined on the issue, and we're republishing his argument here. Last June, CNN broadcast a live performance of Good Night and Good Luck, the Broadway play about legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow, who called out and stared down the red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy."

"Following the broadcast, Anderson Cooper interviewed Scott Pelley, correspondent for 60 Minutes, who at one point declared: "You cannot have democracy without journalism." There's a lot less journalism being practiced these days and our democracy is the poorer for it. And the worst may be yet to come without bold action. The business model that has sustained journalism is in shambles."

"Newspapers have historically done most of the heavy lifting of reporting, especially on the local level, and they are hurting. Advertising and paid subscriptions have dramatically fallen and newsroom jobs have been slashed. It hasn't helped that most newspapers, once the domain of families and other local interests, are now largely in the hands of chains and private equity firms that are more concerned with their bottom line tha"

Streetsblog solicits tax-deductible donations to support reporters and editors and to keep high-quality journalism accessible without paywalls. A fundraiser offers a special gift for major supporters and aims to advance efforts to end car dependency and promote more livable, equitable cities. A campaign seeks New York State grants for non-profit newsrooms that are excluded from tax credits favoring for-profit newspapers and television stations. Journalism has declined, weakening democracy, as advertising and paid subscriptions fall and newsroom jobs are cut. Newspapers that historically carried local reporting are harmed as ownership shifts to chains and private equity focused on profits, creating urgency for bold action.

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