Rockford Sun

Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-34) recently introduced Senate Bill 3457 to create the Local Journalism Task Force Act, an proposed entity to study Illinois communities “underserved by local journalism.” 

The task force would review various aspects of local journalism, from the adequacy of press coverage of communities, ratio of residents to media outlets, print and digital business models for media outlets, to the impact of social media and more. The purpose of the study would be to improve the sustainability of local press business models, as well as private and nonprofit solutions.

Stadelman's bill proposes a task force consisting of a senate member appointed by the Senate President and one by the Governor; a representative of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University; representatives of the journalism schools at Southern Illinois Carbondale and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; a member of the Illinois Press Association; a member of the Illinois Broadcaster Association; and a member of the Illinois Municipal League.

The group would meet five times to review data and hold discussions on potential solutions. Within a year of the task force’s creation, it would submit a document outlining its findings to the Illinois Governor’s office. The task force will be decommissioned through repeal in 2022, the bill proposes.

"As a former journalist and news anchor, I know how important it is to have access to truly local news,” said Stadelman in a March 10 press release announcing the bill. “People deserve to know what’s happening in their communities, regardless of where they live.”

Advertising revenue and circulation declines have caused more than 2,000 US newspapers to close over the past 15 years, and nearly half of the jobs existing in 2004 have disappeared, according to Stadelman’s press release. The task force would make recommendations on how to preserve and restore news coverage in areas lacking an adequate level of local journalism