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Local News and Democracy

Recognizing the vital role of local news in our democracy—including to provide accurate information that enables us to govern ourselves—the League of Women Voters of Washington believes it is the responsibility of the government to provide support for conditions under which credible local journalism can survive and thrive.

Issue Team Chair: Dee Anne Finken, dfinken@lwvwa.org
 DOWNLOAD the Local News and Democracy Issue Paper [Coming soon]
Interested in getting involved with this topic? Contact Dee Anne Finken 

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Updates

Legislation

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Overview

Because of the short session, proponents of media literacy legislation have opted not to pursue new efforts and is focusing on passage of SB 5400.  But the Office of the Superintendent of Education continues to work on advancing media literacy into core curriculum standards. 

In the area of artificial intelligence, the League, like the Attorney General’s Office will be tracking developments with several bills listed below as bills we are watching.

Overview of the 2025 Legislative Session

Washington lawmakers are well aware the decline of local news is linked with reduced voter participation, fewer candidates seeking local office, higher government costs, less civic engagement, greater political polarization and greater challenges to public health. They know that from both their own experiences and widely recognized studies.

Moreover, observers say Washington lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are concerned about the decline.  “All elected people understand local news is disappearing and constituents aren’t getting the information they need to be informed,” said one former Washington lawmaker.

The dilemma is how to address the decline, particularly the economic aspects of it, in light of the bleak budget landscape in 2025. 

Sen. Marko Liias, D-17th, reportedly is looking at introducing legislation, perhaps as early as next week, that would better compensate news organizations for the content they produce that social media platforms feature on their own sites. Under consideration is a surcharge rate increase on taxes paid by those social media platforms.

It is widely recognized that social media platforms profit handsomely as news organizations face growing struggles. In addition to lost revenue from subscribers who can get content free from social media, news organizations are losing massive amounts of advertising dollars to social media platforms.

How any support should be distributed equitably and fairly and how to guarantee the independence of a free press are among the challenges facing problem-solvers.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the United States, other states and municipalities also are proposing and, in some cases, passing legislation that would provide support for local news. Those measures include tax credits for business that advertise in local media, support for hiring and retaining journalists, assistance for publications that seek to become nonprofits, and extensive philanthropic efforts.

In Washington, the local news decline has only worsened since the end of the 2024 legislative session.  The closure of a bankruptcy sale of Sound Publishing earlier this year was among the most crushing developments. It preceded a round of layoffs throughout the chain’s approximately 30 publications, including at the Everett Herald, Sound’s more than 120-year-old flagship.

Meanwhile, at the Columbian, a fourth-generation, family-owned newspaper in Clark County, publisher Ben Campbell said the B&O tax exemption provided to eligible publications by passage of SB 5199 two years ago means a savings of about $50,000 a year for his paper. “It’s pretty good over 10 years, but it’s definitely not going to solve our problems.” 

Interviewed by the League of Women Voters of Washington, a number of publishers and editors said the economic challenges they face are daunting. Ellen Hiatt, executive director of the roughly 60-member Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, said many of her organization’s represented publishers are deciding “month to month how long they’re able to stick around.”

Adding to the problem is that social media platforms are growing increasingly less credible as consumers increasingly turn to them for news and information. Most recently, Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – announced it is moving away from fact-checking practices, leaving the review of its content to the platforms’ own community of users.

Overview of the 2024 Legislative Session
In 2023, lawmakers passed SB 5199, an important but small step to begin addressing the alarming newspaper crisis that is rocking Washington and the rest of the country. The measure expands a tax preference for newspapers by exempting qualifying publishers from the annual Business & Occupations tax through Jan. 1, 2034.

The impact of the exemption will be minimal: Estimates are The Seattle Times will see savings equivalent to the salaries of three full-time reporters, while smaller dailies, like The Columbian in Southwest Washington, might see savings equivalent to the salary of one reporter. Weeklies might save the equivalent of the salary of a half-time reporter. But it is a start. Moreover, the measure passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support, and looking down the road, lawmakers have indicated they are interested in additional efforts.

Also in 2023, the legislature appropriated  $2.4 million for a new fellowship for early career journalists. The program, operating out of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communications at Washington State University, will place eight reporters in newsrooms in underserved communities around the state beginning in 2024 and another eight in 2025. To date, the newspaper crisis has cut newsroom staffing by two-thirds.

Updates
At times during the session, an Issue Chair may write a "Weekly Update" to provide more details on what happened during the week. When they are available, they can be found below:

• January 11 