Package of Journalism Bills Marks Important Step Toward Strengthening Local News and Informed Communities Across Wisconsin

MADISON – On Tuesday, Wisconsin State Senator Mark Spreitzer and Representative Brienne Brown introduced three bills designed to support and enhance local journalism across the state. The legislation includes a bill to establish a Civic Information Consortium, a concept Free Press Action championed in New Jersey, which has been taken up by other states as well. Other legislation includes a bill that would create a journalism fellowship program within the University of Wisconsin for early-career journalists and another bill that would create a state tax credit for local newspaper subscriptions.

Arin Anderson, Free Press Action’s Wisconsin civic media campaign manager, said: 

“Taken together, these bills treat local news and civic information as the public goods that they are while helping support local journalism so it can serve the public interest. If passed, they’ll provide stability and growth across the local news sector, invest in innovation and entrepreneurship, and most importantly support informed and engaged communities around the state. Measures like this improve the viability of local outlets while increasing the civic health of the many communities that make up our great state.

“The introduction of these bills is the direct result of journalism and civic leaders from across the state sharing their stories and making it clear that public funds are essential to free and open debate in Wisconsin, and community news connects us to our neighbors and shared values. Free Press Action applauds the leadership of Senator Spreitzer and Representative Brown, and looks forward to advocating for this and other important journalism bills when the state’s next legislative session begins in January.”

Background:
The bills follow legislative models that are succeeding in supporting local news in a growing number of states. Free Press Action spearheaded the legislative and organizing campaign that led to the creation of the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, which one of Spreitzer and Brown’s bills is modeled after. Since 2021, NJCIC has distributed more than $12 million to local newsrooms and organizations across the state. Free Press Action collaborated with local allies to create and implement the California Local News Fellowship program at UC Berkeley, which has received over $50 million in state funds to place journalists into communities in need of critical local coverage. UC Berkeley’s program, along with other similar models in New Mexico and Washington, is serving as inspiration for the Wisconsin journalism fellowship proposal.

###