Opinion: Community News Act would help newspapers through tax incentives

While public confidence in journalism remains low, surveys in recent years by the Pew Research Center and Gallup, among others, suggest that local news is faring better in public opinion.

Surveys show high rates of confidence in local reporting and community information, as well as for advertising sources.

Interestingly, the confidence spans age groups: It’s not just the older generations that value their local newspapers, even as more and more people look for that information online.

A 2019 survey by Pew also found that much of the public was unaware that local newsrooms are struggling financially, reducing staff or shutting down entirely at a rapid and sustained pace.

A bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives this past summer offers several solutions that would help local newspapers — like the one you hold in your hands right now.

Local TV and radio news would benefit, too. The public good it aims to protect is the way local news, reported by journalists living in their communities, provides an important public service and fosters community.

The Community News and Small Business Support Act, HR 4756, approaches the problem through tax incentives.

Small newsrooms employing reporters locally would be eligible for tax breaks, and so would area businesses that advertise in those publications.

“Through these provisions, important aspects of our local communities can be revitalized by helping small businesses reduce the costs of getting customers in the door, while simultaneously boosting the ecosystem for local news,” wrote the bill’s co-sponsors, Reps. Claudia Tenney, a Republican from N.Y., and Suzan DelBene, a Washington state Democrat, in a letter to their House colleagues.

New Mexico has seen a steady decline in the number of local reporters covering their communities, including “ghost papers” owned by distant corporations with no local staff at all. That plight briefly befell our sister paper, the Deming Headlight, in 2022, before it was purchased from the Gannett corporation.

New Mexico has seen a resilient network of newsrooms joined by nonprofits, online startups and collaborative efforts to preserve and enhance news coverage across our state. Journalists are working hard to keep the work going.

Let’s hope New Mexico’s congressional delegation will join the list of nearly 30 co-sponsors, Republicans and Democrats, of this bill.

— Silver City Daily Press