Variety of state legislative supports for local news media act as a series of experiments

Legislatures in three states — California, Washington, and New Mexico — have appropriated funding to establish local journalism fellowship programs, building on growing momentum for states to provide support to local news media.

Since 2017, legislators in 13 states have introduced 36 bills designed specifically to provide support for local news media using appropriations for fellowships and grants, tax incentives, mandated advertising expenditures, establishing a task force or commission, and charging platforms fees for news media content.

Taken together, the variety of approaches — and how they play out over the coming years — will act as a series of public policy experiments and provide a base for study and evaluation of how best to support local news.

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