Take Action To Save Local News In Connecticut

As in the rest of the country, Connecticut-based news companies are facing difficult times as ad revenues (the typical source of income) fall. Local, ethnic and community news organizations find themselves competing with regional and national media conglomerates—which may not put their newsroom focus on local happenings—for advertising revenue. And with the loss of advertising dollars in an unbalanced industry, Connecticut news organizations are forced to close offices, decrease the scope of their reporting, and lose staff.

Vira Mamchur Schwartz

An Act Concerning the Purchase of Print and Digital Advertising by the State, Raised Bill N0. 5408, now before Connecticut legislators, is a step in stopping this devastation of Connecticut local news.

How does this bill help local, ethnic, and community news companies? By directing a percentage of an already-allocated state advertising budget to news organizations based in Connecticut.

Read that again: already allocated. There is no additional cost to the state and its residents. And that already-allocated funding goes to Connecticut companies, not national chains or out-of-state-owned media.

Opponents to the bill have asked: “Won’t those ads placed with local media be more costly?”

According to Fairfield, CT-based programmatic media expert Randall Compton in his testimony in support of the bill submitted to the General Assembly, the inventory may actually be cheaper when working with smaller media outlets and market-forces should keep local news pricing competitively.

And the fact that local, ethnic and community news retains more trust from its readers than national outlets can give more authority for advertisers.

Since 2004 more than 2,100 newspapers have stopped publishing in the United States. When no newspapers—not even weeklies—or news outlets serve a community, news deserts are born. Connecticut is not immune to this phenomenon.

In New York City, a law took effect in 2021 directing 50% of ad spend to local, ethnic and community outlets. To date it has kept more than $48 million in the city’s economy supporting local news. A similar bill almost passed the Connecticut legislature last year. Supporters this year are optimistic and believe passing Raised Bill No. 4508 will help reverse the decline in local news funding and revitalize the outlets and reporters that care about informing our communities.

Westport-based Cantata Media, with 118 Daily Voice news websites covering Connecticut as of late April 2024, is a proud member of the coalition led by Rebuild Local News calling for passage of this bill.

What can you do to show your support?

Contact your state representatives and senators and urge them to support passing Raised HB No. 5408.

You can find contact information for your local legislators at the Connecticut General Assembly website.

More information about RB No. 5408 and revitalizing local news can be found at Rebuild Local News, a nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition that looks to advances public policies to counter the collapse of local news and revitalize community journalism.