Local news is dying. There are half as many journalists today compared to 10 years ago. This is a threat to our democracy.
There are two bills slowly winding through Congress to help. Canada has already passed similar laws, throwing a lifeline to small local newspapers, websites, radio stations and television stations. But not the United States Congress.
There is something the Mississippi state legislature can do: Adjust the current rate newspapers are paid for publishing public notices. This rate hasn’t been adjusted for inflation in 25 years.
The dollar 25 years ago would be $1.88 today. It is wrong for our state lawmakers to watch our local media die while paying 1998 prices for something produced in 2023.
Newsprint, ink, bandwidth, labor, postal rates — every single cost involved with publishing has risen dramatically over the last 25 years. It’s unfair to the news industry and will ultimately hurt government transparency.
Everybody loves to blame the media. Usually it’s the national mainstream media that people love to hate. Local media gets unfairly lumped in.
Local newspapers cover local crimes, the city council, the board of supervisors, garbage collection, local births and deaths, schools, local features and so much more. Newspapers are typically the oldest business in every small town in Mississippi.
But the rise of Google and Facebook —the biggest monopolies in the history of the world — have taken 80 percent of the revenues that once went to local media outlets.
What does this mean? Without revenue, newspapers can’t pay reporters to cover the most basic news in their communities. It’s scary.
It’s not because newspapers are obsolete. Combined with our local websites, our readership has never been higher. The problem is Google and Facebook have huge resources to spy on readers (illegally!), giving them the ability to target ads. It’s an unfair competitive advantage.
(Emmerich Newspapers, along with 20 other media companies, is suing Google and Facebook for antitrust violations for monopolizing the digital advertising industry,)
The problem is very few Americans are aware of this situation. To the average person, news seems to be everywhere on the Internet. In fact, the amount of news has declined drastically. It’s just that what news there is gets transmitted more quickly and easily. So it appears as though there is plenty of news.
But if you’re in the news business, you see it. Just look at Jackson’s Clarion-Ledger which once had over a 100 full-time reporters. Now they have four or five. The result: Basic stories are not being reported.
There used to be a dozen reporters that covered the state legislature. Now there may be two or three part timers.
I recently attended the governor’s annual media Christmas party at the mansion. Most of the people there were government public relations employees. Twenty years ago, it was mainly reporters and editors from independent newspapers and broadcasters.
As someone who has been in the local news business for more than 40 years, I can tell you this is a serious problem. Government needs accountability, not public relations. I do not mean to disparage PR employees. Many are my friends. But their job is to cover up problems, not expose them. The death of a local independent media business will have profound long-range implications on the future of our cites, state and nation.
There are some state legislators entertaining the idea of allowing governmental entities to publish their own public notices on their own websites. This is a horrible idea. I guarantee you, these public notices will be buried in the dustbin of a billion worldwide websites, if published at all.
The Mississippi Press Association maintains a statewide database of all local legals published throughout the state. It is modern, searchable and easy to use. It is far superior to 99 percent of the government websites I have visited.
What are public notices? Things like notices of tax increases. Notices about garbage rates going up. Notices about school assessment reports. Notices on county millage changes.
The appropriate place for these notices is in the local newspaper and website, where they are most likely to be seen.
A third of our newspapers have closed. And this trend will continue if something is not done.
In Canada, there is now a law requiring Google and Facebook to pay a royalty fee to newspapers for using their headlines, photos and links. Such royalty payments have been fundamental to fair reimbursing musicians and songwriters on Spotify and other Internet music platforms.
The U.S. bill for this is called the Journalism Preservation and Competition Act. Mississippi’s Senator Roger Wicker is a sponsor (but not Cindy Hyde-Smith). It’s been passed by the Senate Judiciary committee. Every time it comes close to passing, Google and Facebook open up their checkbooks and defeat the bill.
Canada also gives tax credits to companies hiring journalists. A similar U.S. bill can’t seem to get passed. Meanwhile, three newspapers a week are closing.
Emmerich Newspapers lost over a million dollars last year. So we had to cut over a million dollars in expenses out of a $14 million cost base. We’re barely holding our own.
Meanwhile, I get calls from readers upset about the quality of their local newspaper. I’m upset too. This breaks my heart. I have dedicated my entire career to bringing quality local news to small communities throughout Mississippi. But you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. Mississippi towns are on the verge of losing their oldest business — a business that is key to the vitality of the community.
I’m 65. I’ve made it to retirement. I can spend the rest of my days sailing, strumming my guitar and playing golf and tennis. It’s the local towns throughout Mississippi that are going to lose. I am ready and willing to continue working as long as it takes because I believe in what I do. But I can’t do it alone.
The Mississippi state legislature can help. After 25 years, they can adjust the public notice advertising rate for inflation.
