New Jersey gives state-funding to local news...
NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR SIGNS LITERAL STATE-FUNDED MEDIA BILL
By Amber Athey | Media and Breaking News Editor 8:42 PM
07/02/2018
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy is expected to sign a
bill that would dedicate $5 million in government funding to local media
projects.
The so-called “Civic Info Bill” was passed by the state
legislature in June and will create the Civic Information Consortium, a
nonprofit organization that gives grants to promote media in “underserved
communities, low-income communities and communities of color.”
Applicants apply for grants by proposing a
“collaboration” between one of five public universities and a community
organization, a media outlet, or a member of the state’s technology sector. The
proposal must also “offer a clear benefit to communities.”
One goal of proposed grants should be to “better meet the
information needs of low-income communities and racial and ethnic communities
that have been underserved by the media.”
Beyond just funding, the government will have a large
role in deciding who is eligible to receive such grants.
The 13-person board of directors in charge of approving
grants will have two appointees each from the governor and the legislature, as
well as five picks from the universities. Those nine directors will, by
majority vote, choose the last four members.
Some activist organizations that have expressed support
for the bill include Action 21 Immigrants Rights Advocacy Group, LAP Latino
Alliance for Progress, and the Latin American Democratic Association. Just one
Republican member of the state legislature voted in favor of the bill.
The bill was extensively lobbied for by Free Press, an
organization who has the goal of promoting “diversity in media ownership” and
is co-founded by at least one progressive journalist. Free Press Action Fund
launched a campaign in 2017 to pass an earlier version of the bill.
“Companies led by White men own nearly all of our media —
which is why women and people of color are so often depicted in stereotypical
terms or ignored altogether,” Free Press states on its website.
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