For years, communities have relied on local news outlets to learn what was happening around them—developments in local and state government, new businesses opening up, high school sports scores, and opportunities for community civic engagement. Strong local reporting is linked to better governance, lower levels of corruption, greater civic engagement and stronger community trust. 

Local news and civic information are true public goods that benefit everyone, though too many Pennsylvanians lack access to them — particularly people in rural communities, working-class communities, non-English-speaking communities and communities of color. Layoffs and corporate consolidation also mean that 17 counties now have just one — in some cases, zero — news sources, and the newsrooms that remain in these counties often have just a handful of reporters. This isn’t just an industry problem – it’s a crisis for our communities.

But there’s hope. Pennsylvania has an opportunity to advocate for local news and civic information that will benefit communities.

Two bills before the Pennsylvania legislature would strengthen independent local news, plug critical information gaps and bolster civic engagement — all while maintaining strict firewalls to preserve editorial independence.

• HB 2048 would create and fund an independent, nonpartisan Pennsylvania Civic Information Consortium (CIC), which would distribute public grants to local newsrooms and organizations focused on the most critical community-information gaps.
  
  The CIC — modeled after a successful bipartisan New Jersey program that has distributed over $12 million for local news — would be a nonpartisan independent body outside of the state government. This approach would protect against government interference and allow the CIC to raise private philanthropic dollars.

• HB 2047 would establish a state fellowship program for local news, placing early-career journalists in community newsrooms across the state to strengthen reporting capacity where it’s needed most. This kind of fellowship program has been successfully piloted in California, New Mexico and Washington State, where it’s placed reporters on the ground in communities that have seen local coverage evaporate.

Sign up below to get organizing updates and get involved.