Steven Waldman: Canada must continue leading the way on support for local news

In 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote from Paris, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Jefferson would be saddened to know that since 2002, the United States has lost more than 80 per cent of its local journalists, dropping from about 40 per 100,000 residents to 7.8. Every week, an average of three newspapers shut down, leaving communities with diminished access to reliable information.

Communities that lose local news coverage see lower voter turnout, higher municipal borrowing costs, more government corruption and weaker civic engagement.

Rebuild Local News is the leading nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition developing and advancing effective public policies designed to strengthen community news and information in the U.S. Our broad-based organization brings together the largest alliance of local publishers, labour unions, civic organizations and newsrooms representing both rural and urban communities. Together, these 55 organizations represent over 3,000 newsrooms and 15,000 journalists working together to revive local news.

As we look to strengthen local news in the United States, we examined the most effective policies around the world. Often, it is Canadian policies we seek to replicate in the United States.

Your Online News Act is seeing $100 million flowing annually from Google to Canadian news businesses, including many small, independent local newsrooms. (Small publishers benefit because the formula is based on headcount rather than traffic or size of the payroll).

We were especially impressed by the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit. This policy provides a stable financial floor to prevent additional layoffs and make new hires possible as local news outlets innovate to meet the changing economic and technological environment.

Illinois enacted a state-level local journalist employment tax credit in 2024 and distributed over $4 million in its first year, supporting hundreds of journalist positions at over 120 local outlets. New York and New Mexico have enacted a similar legislation.

Most recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the historic Community NEWS Act into law, a measure to help California local news providers sustain themselves and expand.

The law is projected to direct more than $200 million over five years to local news outlets that hire or retain local journalists, making it the largest state investment in community news in the United States by total dollars.

In making the announcement, Gov. Newsom said, “California is supporting independent journalism. By signing this bill, we are signalling the profound role journalists play to cover essential issues like local schools, city halls, courts, public safety agencies, businesses, and neighbourhoods. A free press isn’t supposed to make government comfortable. It’s supposed to make government accountable.”

The legislation is a historic step — a recognition that the collapse of community news is severely harming communities, and something significant must be done about it.

That’s something that Canada recognized before the U.S. We hope our Canadian friends will continue to be a beacon of leadership in an uncertain world, where news outlets are banned by autocrats, by keeping the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit at 35 per cent and by safeguarding the Online News Act in trade talks.

As Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on World Press Freedom Day, “Journalism empowers us with the truth and protects our democracy. In a world where it’s increasingly under threat, Canada continues to support a free and open press — and we are stronger for it.” Across the border, we are grateful for, and learning from, Canada’s creativity.

National Post

Steven Waldman is president of U.S.-based Rebuild Local News and co-founder of Report for America.