We’ve broken down these readings into three different categories: media past, media present, and media future. To drive effective policy change, we need an understanding of the work that came before us, a grasp on the structural realities that underpin our media system today, and a clear vision of what we’re pursuing.
Media Past
What were the political decisions that laid the groundwork for our media system today? How did previous generations of community media advocates achieve real change? What can we learn from the failures and successes of the past? These resources dive into those questions and many more.
- Robert McChesney, Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times (The New Press, 2016)
- Victor Pickard, Social Democracy or Corporate Libertarianism? Conflicting Media Policy Narratives in the Wake of Market Failure (Communication Theory, 2012)
- Printing Hate (Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, 2021
- Lewis Raven Wallace, John Biewen and Chenjerai Kumanyika, “More Truth” (Scene On Radio, S4E11, 2020)
- Makani Themba and Nan Rubin, “Speaking for Ourselves” (The Nation, 2003)
- Joseph Torres, “How Local Media Fueled the Tulsa Massacre — and Covered It Up” (Free Press, 2021)
- Joseph Torres, Alicia Bell, Collette Watson, Tauhid Chappell, Diamond Hardiman and Christina Pierce, Media 2070: An Invitation to Dream Up Media Reparations (Free Press, 2020)
Media Present
We’re in the midst of a critical inflection point for local media. These resources break down the current landscape around local news, and some of the core realities about our media system that have emerged in recent years.
- Joshua Benton, “Do Countries with Better-Funded Public Media Also Have Healthier Democracies?” (NiemanLab, 2022)
- Black in the Newsroom documentary (Media 2070, 2022)
- Kevin Davis, Amy Kroin and Mike Rispoli, New Jersey’s Civic Information Bill: The Story of the Campaign to Transform Local Media (Free Press, 2022)
- Dr. Travis L. Dixon, A Dangerous Distortion of Our Families: Representations of Our Families, by Race, in News and Opinion Media (Color Of Change and Family Story, 2017)
- Losing the News (PEN America, 2019)
- Carla Murphy, “Why We Need a Working-Class Media” (Dissent Magazine, 2019)
- Victor Pickard, “The Commercial Era for Local Journalism Is Over” (NiemanLab, 2021)
- Josh Stearns and Christine Schmidt, “How We Know Journalism Is Good for Democracy” (Democracy Fund, 2022)
- Joseph Torres, “Racism in the Media Persists 50 Years After Kerner Report” (Free Press, 2018)
- S. Derek Turner, How Big Is the Reporting Gap? (Free Press, 2020)
Media Future
Despite the challenges facing our media system today, we remain hopeful that a stronger, sustainable, and community-rooted future for local news is in reach. These resources explore some of the big ideas and themes that we can start working towards as we explore policy change.
- Rodney Benson and Matthew Powers, Public Media and Political Independence (Free Press, 2011), pp. 3–14, 61–66
- Elizabeth Green, Darryl Holliday and Mike Rispoli, The Roadmap for Local News (2023)
- Darryl Holliday, “Journalism Is a Public Good. Let the Public Make It” (Columbia Journalism Review, 2021)
- Sanjay Jolly and Ellen Goodman, “A ‘Full Stack’ Approach to Public Media in the United States” (German Marshall Fund, 2021)
- Timothy Karr and Craig Aaron, Beyond Fixing Facebook: How the Multibillion-Dollar Business Behind Online Advertising Could Reinvent Public Media, Revitalize Journalism and Strengthen Democracy (Free Press, 2019)
- Hillary Ross, Expanding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Fund Local News (Day One Project, 2021)
- Anya Schiffrin, “The Infodemic” (The Nation, 2020)
- Tom Stites, A New Business Model Emerges: Meet the Digital News Co-op (Nonprofit Quarterly, 2021)