By Sophie Foster
Opinion Editor
On Sept. 7, a donor coalition announced the Press Forward initiative, an endeavor which will devote $500 million to the revitalization of local journalism over the course of the next five years.
This coalition includes big names such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Democracy Fund, and the McKnight Foundation, alongside 18 other partners.
According to the MacArthur Foundation, which is leading the initiative, Press Forward will “re-center local news as a force for community cohesion[,] support new models and solutions that are ready to scale[,] and close longstanding inequities in journalism coverage and practice.”
This is, without question, a meaningful move that will hopefully prove substantially impactful.
It also comes at a critical time. The last two decades saw the closures of over two thousand local newspapers, according to NPR. This means approximately 20% of Americans are presently living in news deserts and lacking accurate, trustworthy coverage of local occurrences, big or small.
“Press Forward seeks to reverse the dramatic decline in local news that has coincided with an increasingly divided America and weakening trust in institutions,” according to the MacArthur Foundation.
The coalition announced four core areas of focus: strengthening local newsrooms who hold the trust of their local communities, accelerating the progress of newswriting production and distribution, shrinking inequalities in journalism coverage, and advancing policies that expand news access.
According to Press Forward, “[a]s local newsrooms have disappeared across America, communities have witnessed fading civic engagement, eroding social bonds, surging misinformation, and dwindling governmental accountability.”
Those involved with Press Forward hope that it will introduce much-needed resources to the journalistic field, bringing transformation, development, accessibility, equity, and attentivity to community wellbeing. Its work will be informed by the insights of those actively engaged in the industry.
town life, though, is now marked by a dire lack of thorough, unbiased information flow — in fact, Chestertown itself is no exception. According to the 2020 census, approximately 20% of Americans live in rural communities. It is not by chance that this statistic so closely aligns with the percentage of Americans affected by news deserts. It is also far from coincidence that, according to Pew, 62% of urban voters are left-leaning, while only 38% of rural voters would say the same.
Education is, definitionally, the very basis of knowledge, and schools are not the only places that knowledge is received. Journalism is an integral component of community dialogues, and without it, gaps in insights are not only possible, but certain.
In Chestertown, news outlets like the Kent County News charge for subscriptions to consistent news reportage, thus making access a challenge for low-income residents. Hopefully, Press Forward will make an endeavor to fund the minimization of some such barriers.
The tragic reality is that availability of true, unbiased news and civic information is presently denied to those living in the United States’ most sparsely populated communities. When an individual’s sole access point for information is Facebook, it significantly diminishes their ability to make informed decisions as engaged citizens.
Accessibility of information is vital, and too many are currently deprived of fair, accurate, and individually applicable news. According to Press Forward’s own website, “[d]emocracy flourishes when people have access to reliable information.”
This initiative could prove life-changing for many in towns like Chestertown — and smaller — nationwide.
“We have a moment to support the reimagination, revitalization, and rapid development of local news,” President of the MacArthur Foundation John Palfrey said. “We are prepared to support the strongest ideas and seed new ones; build powerful networks; and invest in people, organizations, and networks with substantial resources.”
The American public, particularly those residing in low-income, rural, or otherwise isolative communities, could stand to benefit significantly from this effort. It can be easy to take the regular news flow many of us receive for granted.
There is no shortage of reportage coming out of American cities, including Washington College’s nearest urban communities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Small town life, though, is now marked by a dire lack of thorough, unbiased information flow — in fact, Chestertown itself is no exception.
According to the 2020 census, approximately 20% of Americans live in rural communities. It is not by chance that this statistic so closely aligns with the percentage of Americans affected by news deserts. It is also far from coincidence that, according to Pew, 62% of urban voters are left-leaning, while only 38% of rural voters would say the same.
Education is, definitionally, the very basis of knowledge, and schools are not the only places that knowledge is received. Journalism is an integral component of community dialogues, and without it, gaps in insights are not only possible, but certain.
In Chestertown, news outlets like the Kent County News charge for subscriptions to consistent news reportage, thus making access a challenge for low-income residents. Hopefully, Press Forward will make an endeavor to fund the minimization of some such barriers.
The tragic reality is that availability of true, unbiased news and civic information is presently denied to those living in the United States’ most sparsely populated communities. When an individual’s sole access point for information is Facebook, it significantly diminishes their ability to make informed decisions as engaged citizens.
Accessibility of information is vital, and too many are currently deprived of fair, accurate, and individually applicable news. According to Press Forward’s own website, “[d]emocracy flourishes when people have access to reliable information.”
This initiative could prove life-changing for many in towns like Chestertown — and smaller — nationwide.
Elm Archive Photo
Photo Caption: The Press Forward initiative will benefit local news outlets similar to Chestertown’s own Kent County News.