Several readers have asked recently what they can do individually to help save local journalism.
This is much appreciated, as are the rest of the people helping just by subscribing to their local newspaper.
Usually I suggest that they tell state and national elected representatives that saving local journalism is an urgent priority.
Congress should pass legislation that will save newsroom jobs (via tax credits) and sustain the industry (by helping it get fairly compensated by tech giants profiting from journalism) before it’s too late.
People can also contribute directly to news organizations. Newspapers, which provide most local news coverage, increasingly rely on donations to help cover the cost of their newsrooms. Investigative reporting by The Seattle Times is supported by tax-deductible donations to its Investigative Journalism Fund, for instance.
Gift subscriptions to friends and family in other places also help, and may stimulate conversation at future gatherings.
Tipping newspaper carriers is also a nice thing to do, especially during the holidays, for those who still have newspapers delivered by carriers.
There are also many worthy organizations supporting local journalism nowadays that could benefit from individual donations.
Given the rise of press threats and lawsuits, I’d move legal defense groups like the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press up the priority list.
President-elect Donald Trump is on a litigation spree, suing broadcasters like ABC and CBS and, on Monday, a regional newspaper in Iowa.
Trump threatened the news media more than 100 times during his campaign and earlier on Monday, during a news conference, said “we have to straighten out the press.”
Whether that crusade becomes institutionalized by the incoming administration remains to be seen.
But it follows a trend of legal attacks that’s been ongoing for more than a decade, according to Lisa Zycherman, deputy legal director and policy counsel at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
“When the national dialogue is demonizing the press and undermining the legitimacy of the press, you’re more likely to find a sustained libel threat for news organizations and it’s something we’re very concerned about,” she said.
The risk is exacerbated by the weakened state of the press. Fewer outlets have the resources or will to do investigative work and among those that do, few can afford the lawyers needed to help obtain public records, review stories before publication and defend against lawsuits.
“As the traditional news industry shrinks, fewer legacy newsrooms can afford the legal help required for investigative journalism,” stated a 2022 study by RCFP, funded by the Knight Foundation.
“Newer newsrooms are too small to have their own attorneys. As a result, stories that could make a difference are delayed or abandoned because journalists were unable to afford or access lawyers. Journalists feel vulnerable to attacks from those determined to use the law as a weapon to stymie or silence them.”
That report found 54% of surveyed journalists had “unmet” legal needs. The same number, 54%, said they had legal help in the last year, including 64% that used pro bono assistance through a law firm, a law school clinic, a nonprofit like RCFP or a combination.
The report made the case for ProJourn, a network of attorneys providing pro bono legal support to journalists, spearheaded by Microsoft and Seattle-based law firm Davis Wright Tremaine and managed by RCFP.
ProJourn helps access records and does pre-publication reviews in seven states. It is also expanding to provide general newsroom legal support, such as advice on human resources issues, but it doesn’t specifically provide libel defense.
RCFP has dedicated attorneys that can help defend libel cases, as they did in a defamation lawsuit that a Pennsylvania state senator filed against the Erie Reader over an op-ed describing efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The outlet could have been closed if it lost but the case was settled last week.
So far RCFP has attorneys placed in just five states, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Colorado and Oklahoma, though it plans to add more.
I hope those attorneys go first to the 17 or so states that don’t yet have anti-SLAPP laws to prevent malicious and frivolous lawsuits. Iowa is one of them, which suggests the lawsuit against the Register was calculated.
These legal defense groups have support from large philanthropies but they will need more in the coming years.
Perhaps Press Forward, the $500 million-plus local journalism fund, ought to consider ways to support this infrastructure and help local and regional news outlets afford legal and insurance costs.
Of course some lawsuits against media outlets are legitimate and hold outlets that deliberately mislead to account. Others times they’re filed by individuals who dislike the coverage and want it suppressed.
There’s also a push among some conservatives to weaken bedrock press protections nationally, perhaps through a case that reaches a potentially sympathetic Supreme Court.
That’s all the more reason to support news organizations, so they can do their job well and without fear of retribution, and the organizations that support them when problems arise.
This is excerpted from the free, weekly Voices for a Free Press newsletter. Sign up to receive it at the Save the Free Press website, st.news/SavetheFreePress. Seattle Times’ Brier Dudley is the editor of the Free Press Initiative, which aims to inform the public about issues facing newspapers, local news coverage, and a free press. You can learn more about the Free Press Initiative, or sign up for a newsletter, at https://company.seattletimes.com/save-the-free-press/.
