Friend,

You’ve heard from us before about the importance of local journalism — and how a promising bill is moving through the California legislature. We have a chance to get a vote on it in the Assembly if we act fast: Add your name to our petition reminding Assembly Speaker Rivas how important local journalism is for an engaged society and informed electorate.

Thank you so much,

Mike and the rest of the Free Press Action team

Friend,

This week, California lawmakers have a historic chance to invest in local news. SB 1327, which passed the Senate earlier this summer with supermajority support,¹ would impose a fee on major tech platforms to generate an estimated $500 million for news outlets.

SB 1327 would spur the hiring and retention of journalists at a time when newsroom job losses have reached crisis levels. The bill would also help fund UC Berkeley’s California Local News Fellowship, a publicly funded program created with Free Press Action’s support that places journalists in underserved areas.

But with the legislative session closing at the end of August, lawmakers are running out of time. We need leadership in the Assembly to make passing the bill a top priority.

Please send a message to Speaker Rivas urging him to do whatever he can to secure a floor vote for SB 1327 before the end of the legislative session.

SB 1327 is not a silver-bullet solution. The structural problems plaguing local journalism run far too deep for any one bill to fix. But make no mistake — this is a remarkable opportunity to support hard-working journalists and begin healing an ailing media system.

Thank you so much for your help,

Alex and the rest of us at Free Press Action

1. “California Bill That Would Support Local Journalism Jobs Passes the State Senate,” Free Press Action, June 27, 2024