[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2193-S2194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 596--DESIGNATING APRIL 2022 AS ``PRESERVING AND 
   PROTECTING LOCAL NEWS MONTH'' AND RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE AND 
                       SIGNIFICANCE OF LOCAL NEWS

  Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. 
Wyden, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Markey, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Brown, Mr. Casey, 
and Mrs. Murray) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 596

       Whereas the United States was founded on the principle of 
     freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States, which declares that 
     ``Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of 
     speech, or of the press . . .'';
       Whereas an informed citizenry depends on accurate and 
     unbiased news reporting to inform the judgment of the people;
       Whereas a robust, diverse, and sustainable local news 
     presence leads to civic engagement and the buttressing of 
     democratic norms and practices;
       Whereas local news serves as a necessary resource during 
     the COVID-19 pandemic to provide communities with public 
     health information and to inform communities about available 
     services and support from Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 
     territorial governments;
       Whereas published guidance from the Department of Homeland 
     Security deemed journalists as essential critical 
     infrastructure workers during the COVID-19 pandemic;
       Whereas the absence of local news outlets and investigative 
     reporting allows local government corruption and corporate 
     malfeasance to go unchecked;
       Whereas local journalists help combat disinformation by 
     using their community knowledge and connections to debunk 
     fraudulent or misleading content;
       Whereas local cable franchises routinely provide for public 
     educational and government access channels on their systems, 
     and those channels--
       (1) offer vital local civic programming that informs 
     communities;
       (2) provide news and information not often available on 
     other local broadcast channels or cable;
       (3) supplement local journalism; and
       (4) at times, are the only source for local news;

       Whereas the people of the United States trust local news 
     sources by a 2-to-1 margin;
       Whereas, according to recent research--
       (1) the United States has lost more than 2,100 local print 
     outlets since 2004;
       (2) more than 200 counties in the United States have no 
     newspaper at all, creating a news shortage for the 3,200,000 
     residents of those counties;
       (3) of the remaining counties in the United States, more 
     than \1/2\, or 1,528, have only 1 newspaper to cover 
     populations ranging from under 1,000 to more than 1,000,000 
     residents;
       (4) more than \1/2\ of all United States newspapers have 
     changed owners in the past decade, and, in 2018, only 25 
     companies owned \2/3\ of all daily newspapers;
       (5) of the surviving 6,700 newspapers in the United States, 
     at least 1,000 qualify as ``ghost newspapers'', or newspapers 
     with reporting and photography staffs that are so 
     significantly reduced that they can no longer provide much of 
     the breaking news or public service journalism that once 
     informed readers about vital issues in their communities; and
       (6) rural counties are among the counties most deeply 
     impacted by the loss of local reporting, as more than 500 of 
     the 2,100 newspapers that have closed or merged since 2004 
     are in rural counties;
       Whereas, while overall employment in newspaper, television, 
     radio, and digital newsrooms dropped by roughly 26 percent, 
     or 30,000 jobs, between 2008 and 2020, the plunge in 
     newspaper newsrooms alone was much worse at 57 percent, or 
     40,000 jobs, in that same time period;
       Whereas the number of news employees in the radio 
     broadcasting industry dropped by 22 percent between 2004 and 
     2020;
       Whereas beat reporting, meaning the day-to-day coverage of 
     a particular field that allows a journalist to develop 
     expertise and cultivate sources, has ceased to be a viable 
     career for would-be journalists due to the decimation of 
     newsroom budgets;
       Whereas requests submitted under section 552 of title 5, 
     United States Code (commonly referred to as ``Freedom of 
     Information Act requests''), by local newspapers to local, 
     State, and Federal agencies fell by nearly 50 percent between 
     2005 and 2010, demonstrating a significant drop in the extent 
     to which local reporters request government records;
       Whereas newspapers alone lost more than $35,000,000,000 in 
     advertising revenue between 2004 and 2018;
       Whereas, in the second quarter of 2020, advertising revenue 
     fell by a median of 24 percent for local television 
     companies;
       Whereas the revenue of all-news radio stations dropped by 
     24 percent in 2020;
       Whereas there remains a significant gender disparity in 
     newsroom employment, with women comprising approximately \1/
     3\ of staff who are 30 years of age or older;
       Whereas women who are local television news anchors and 
     reporters, especially women of color, are often subject to 
     harassment and stalking;
       Whereas, across the United States, there are more than 200 
     newspapers published by and for Black readers, and, in recent 
     years, many of those newspapers have seen--
       (1) significant losses in advertising revenue as small 
     businesses in their communities were forced to close; and
       (2) circulation declines due to the closures of businesses 
     in their communities;
       Whereas the number of Black journalists working at daily 
     newspapers dropped by 40 percent between 1997 and 2014, more 
     than for any other demographic group;
       Whereas the number of print media sources published by and 
     for American Indian readers has shrunk dramatically in recent 
     years, from 700 media outlets in 1998 to only 200 in 2018;
       Whereas Tribally-owned news outlets are often dependent on 
     Tribal governments for funding, but most of those outlets 
     lack the policy structure necessary to fully protect 
     journalistic independence;
       Whereas a 2018 survey by the Native American Journalists 
     Association found that 83 percent of respondents believed 
     that Native

[[Page S2194]]

     press coverage of Tribal government affairs was sometimes, 
     frequently, or always censored;
       Whereas there are more than 550 Latino news media outlets 
     in the United States, which rely primarily on a declining 
     advertising revenue base;
       Whereas the lack of local news impacts communities that 
     speak languages other than English, which are often excluded 
     from national media coverage;
       Whereas more than 100 local newsrooms have closed during 
     the COVID-19 pandemic;
       Whereas 8 percent of surveyed local radio stations reported 
     the COVID-19 pandemic ended their local news programs 
     entirely;
       Whereas 30 percent of local television news stations 
     reported budget cuts and staff reductions because of the 
     COVID-19 pandemic;
       Whereas PEN America proposed ``a major reimagining of the 
     local news space'' in its 2019 call-to-action report, 
     ``Losing the News: The Decimation of Local Journalism and the 
     Search for Solutions'', and called on society and the Federal 
     Government to urgently address the alarming demise of local 
     journalism; and
       Whereas, half a century ago, Congress perceived that the 
     commercial television industry would not independently 
     provide the educational and public interest broadcasting that 
     was appropriate and necessary for the country, and, informed 
     by an independent report prepared by the Carnegie Commission 
     on Educational Television, created the Corporation for Public 
     Broadcasting, which has since ensured that radio and 
     television include public interest educational and reporting 
     programs using annually appropriated funds: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates April 2022 as ``Preserving and Protecting 
     Local News Month'';
       (2) affirms that local news serves an essential function in 
     the democracy of the United States;
       (3) recognizes local news as a public good; and
       (4) acknowledges the valuable contributions of local 
     journalism towards the maintenance of healthy and vibrant 
     communities.

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