Laws to assist native newsrooms in Washington is inching forward but it surely’s unclear whether or not it is going to get accredited this yr.
Senate Invoice 5400 was scheduled for a vote within the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee final Friday however wasn’t acted on earlier than the assembly ended.
Now it’s up for consideration once more this Friday and has a great likelihood of advancing, based on Rowland Thompson, Allied Day by day Newspapers of Washington govt director.
That may be a Valentine’s Day reward to the information business. Nevertheless it gained’t be real love except the total Legislature and Gov. Bob Ferguson comply with go well with and get it completed.
SB 5400 would enhance a business-tax surcharge on superior computing corporations. The surcharge is at the moment used to complement larger schooling and pupil help funding.
Elevating the surcharge would elevate round $20 million a yr for a program that would supply grants as much as $15,000 per journalist employed by native information organizations, whether or not print, digital or broadcast. Something collected past $20 million would go to the upper schooling fund backed by the surcharge.
A legislative fiscal notice estimates that SB 5400 would generate $24 million within the the rest of the present biennium, although 2027. It will generate $39.7 million in 2027-2029 and $41.6 million in 2029-2031.
The notice additionally estimates the Division of Commerce would make use of 5 individuals to handle this system. That is surprisingly excessive, on condition that the fiscal notice anticipates solely as much as 60 grants per yr.
The grants ought to be largely automated, primarily based on a headcount system within the laws and proportionate to workforce information reported to the state. That would go away no room for subjectivity in deciding grant allocations.
Using 5 individuals to handle the grant program would price $830,115 in 2026 and $810,115 in 2027, the fiscal notice estimates. Staff would do issues like “handle grantees” and supply “capability constructing assist.”
Whereas assist for the local-news business is way appreciated, the state ought to chorus from overly managing this system, reduce its staffing and do nothing in any respect to “handle grantees.”
Grants ought to be handled as hands-off pass-throughs to keep away from any look of influencing information organizations or selectively supporting any explicit outlet or media class.
Varied organizations representing media retailers will do loads of outreach concerning the grant program.
Heck, I’ll contact each information outlet myself, if that’s what it takes to make certain grant {dollars} assist the utmost variety of newsroom jobs.
Longview resumes: Readers of The Day by day Information in Longview acquired a bundle of papers earlier this week, because the paper started recovering from a cyberattack that interrupted manufacturing throughout the Lee Enterprises newspaper chain.
I acquired the replace on background from a staffer who wasn’t approved to explain what occurred.
A narrative revealed by Lee’s St. Louis Submit-Dispatch mentioned a “cybersecurity occasion” was confirmed Friday by Lee Enterprises CEO Kevin Mowbray. Few particulars had been supplied but it surely mentioned the assault was reported to legislation enforcement.
The inventory value of the Davenport, Iowa-based firm was down about 13% over the past 5 days. It publishes papers in 72 markets throughout 25 states, a number of of which reported disruptions, per reviews by TechCrunch and The New York Times.
Lee’s solely Washington paper, The Day by day Information, was unable to supply its three weekly editions final week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Manufacturing of the digital version, which mirrors the print model, was additionally affected.
Final week’s papers had been lastly printed on Sunday and dropped at the U.S. Postal Service for supply on Monday, and manufacturing is again on schedule this week.
This week’s papers are smaller, although, and look totally different as a result of the employees needed to scramble and design the Longview paper itself fairly than depend on Lee’s distant, consolidated design and manufacturing service.
Belief points in Maine: The Boston Globe examined the turmoil at Maine newspapers acquired by the Nationwide Belief for Native Information in 2023 and reported that the nonprofit is scuffling with “persistent monetary losses” and will reduce jobs and probably print editions.
“The struggles underscore the large difficulties of constructing and sustaining a sustainable native information enterprise — no matter who owns it,” the Globe reported.
The belief started with the acquisition of a newspaper group in Colorado in 2021 and now owns 65 papers in Colorado, Maine and Georgia. Its backers embrace Google and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the story famous.
CEO Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro left in January and a number of other Maine executives, together with the group’s CEO and high editors, left over the past yr.
The belief acquired the Maine papers for $15 million from a neighborhood businessman. They had been owned by The Seattle Instances Co. from 1998 to 2009.
That is excerpted from the free, weekly Voices for a Free Press e-newsletter. Signal as much as obtain it on the Save the Free Press web site, st.news/SavetheFreePress.
