A Lifeline

All eyes are on Albany this week, as state government is hammering out the budget for fiscal year 2025, a monumental task that is arguably the most important activity of the year for lawmakers in every corner of New York, with impacts for communities big and small.

But one newspaper is not covering the financial horse trading: the Scarsdale Inquirer. Established in 1901, the award-winning newspaper that covered the successful Westchester County community abruptly ceased operations on January 15 after 123 years. The company’s demise took out two other sister newspapers, the Record-Review and the Rivertowns Enterprise. Two months later, hopeful suggestions that a way forward might be discovered that could get the presses running again hasn’t come to pass.

In the state’s tight-knit community journalism community, it’s difficult to capture just how startling this news was. The Inquirer set a standard of quality when it came to covering its local community, and it also appeared to be a beacon of fiscal stability — a well-run ship in an affluent community.

Its demise sent shock waves around the state. As every news organization struggles to adapt to an ever-changing world of information flow, and some find the battle to survive harder than it’s ever been, it felt apocalyptic. If the Inquirer can’t survive, can anyone?

Books can be, and have been, written about the changes wrought by the advent of the internet, a move to digital news and social media, an evolution of “infotainment” on television and headwinds for the ink-and-paper press, whose very printing mechanism gave the industry its name. We’re living through a revolution; the asteroid hit in the late 1990s, and we’re still experiencing the ripples it caused. They’re strong enough to swamp some less seaworthy vessels. The recent pandemic added in some gale-force winds to boot.

The Express News Group is, fortunately, a rare exception — the financial stress is real but not existential. Still, the entire industry needs a lifeline. These are not just everyday businesses struggling to stay afloat, with some going under. They give neighborhoods and residents an identity. They celebrate small victories and mourn losses. They inform and they give local businesses a chance to find shoppers and clients. They are the community’s watchdogs, voicing outrage and calling attention when it’s necessary.

A community without a news organization keeping a close eye on it is diminished. A newspaper office is more valuable than a Town Hall — though only one is guaranteed, thanks to a flow of reliable revenue that’s not impacted much by the whims of the economy.

Perhaps it should be otherwise.

The Local Journalism Sustainability Act has been proposed for the 2025 New York State budget, which is due April 1. It represents exactly the kind of lifeline that will return some stability to an essential industry that is very much in peril. It’s currently on the table for negotiations.

The legislation would offer refundable tax credits to news organizations — $25,000 per newsroom employee, up to $200,000 per publication. It would give print and online newspapers and broadcasters of all political stripes with 100 employees or fewer — truly local news — the chance to recalibrate to the new realities but still keep the coverage going. Suddenly, it would make fiscal sense not to cut journalists covering a community but to add them.

This is a targeted injection of money that would do immense good for an industry that is in demonstrated insecurity: New York has fewer newspapers today than it did two decades ago. Studies show that the loss of local news brings decreased civic engagement, increased municipal costs, less transparency and more malfeasance in both government and business, waste, fraud and abuse. Polarized communities become more so, and riven with misinformation.

Perhaps encouraged by the East End’s robust local journalism community, local legislators are on board in support of making sure the Local Journalism Sustainability Act is part of the final budget. But there are so many competing arguments for spending state money, it can easily lose ground, as it has done in each of the past few years.

Today, the problem is worse — and this could be a last chance to truly make a difference. If you’ve read this far, you’re the kind of person who understands the importance of local news. Please support local legislators in their advocacy and encourage Governor Kathy Hochul, at 518-474-8390, to make the Local Journalism Sustainability Act part of the 2025 budget.

Pete Hamill, a well-known journalist with South Fork roots, once wrote: “Quite simply, I love newspapers and the men and women who make them. … I want them to go on and on and on.” Today, more so than when he wrote those words, there are just no guarantees — without decisive action. If it matters to you, and it should, please speak up.