Stadelman-led Local Journalism Task Force unveils proposals to revive declining news industry

State Senator Steve Stadelman began the 2024 legislative session in Springfield this week with a news conference to release the Local Journalism Task Force Report, which details the alarming decline of news outlets in Illinois and outlines public policy that could help reverse the downward trend.

The report, Stadelman noted during the Capitol press event, aptly declares a "local news crisis that is not only business problem, but also a democracy problem."

Stadelman led the task force of frontline journalists, journalism academics and researchers and other government officials, who spent a year studying the collapsing industry. Among the findings: Illinois leads the nation with a loss of 85 percent of its newspaper employees.

“As local journalism declines, the checks and balances on democracy also decline. It’s an issue facing newsrooms across both the state and nation – due in large part to dwindling revenue that leads to a dwindling number of reporters,” said Stadelman, a former TV news anchor. “A disruption in finances is a disruption in talent. It was long past time for us to have serious conversations about the future of journalism and how that affects the future of our communities.”

Hearing from a number of experts from across both the state and nation, the task force saw a common theme: independent local news reporting is vital and the lack of it is dangerous to the health of our democracy. In its report, the task force offers several policy recommendations including tax credits for subscribers and small businesses that advertise with local news outlets, grant programs and fellowships.

Click on the photo to view a livestream of the news conference:

The report cites research by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University that Chicago ranks among the 20 U.S. metro areas with the highest loss of news sources per capita. Yet the decline in rural parts of Illinois is even worse.

“Although the news crisis is severe across Illinois, it’s especially acute in downstate rural areas. Almost all the counties that lack a single local news outlet or are on Medill’s ‘watch list’ are in southern Illinois,” the task force’s report states. “While rural areas downstate are clearly being underserved, so are some communities of color in urban areas.”

Stadelman announced at this week's news conference that he soon will introduce legislation to improve the financial situations of local newsrooms and put more journalists to work covering city councils and school boards across the state.

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Steve Stadelman is at Rockford University.
January 13 at 9:31 PM

Rockford remembers Dr. Martin Luther King with a high school student speech contest and a discussion of mental health and trauma challenges in our community.

Thanks to the Rockford Ministers Fellowship - RMF for organizing all of this weekend's events, despite the weather!