By Gertie Angel, Fabiha Khanam, and Aima Riaz
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2022
NEW YORK, NY — Teens for Press Freedom (TPF) launched a letter writing campaign for the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to subsidize journalism and establish financial solvency amongst local papers through the establishment of three tax credits.
Over the past two decades, local journalism has been on the decline, a crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report conducted by the UNC Hussman School of Journalism, since 2004, over 1,800 local newspapers have shut down nationwide.
Maybelle Keyser-Butson, TPF Advocacy Team Director said, “Local news can provide information that is most specific to a community, so it’s great to have sources that have overarching national news… issues vary from community to community, so it’s important that there are sources that are credible and well-funded.”
Althea Collier, TPF Advocacy Team Director encouraged teens to write a letter to local representatives expressing their support for The Local Journalism Sustainability Act and sign the petition found on the Teens For Press Freedom website to pass this piece of legislation.