US lawmakers renew force to grant assist with local news outlets
14 May, 2020
A large number of local US newspapers and broadcast outlets, grappling with an enormous downturn in advertising because of the COVID-19 pandemic, would be eligible for financial support under legislation introduced found in Congress on Wednesday.
A bipartisan US Senate proposal of Democrats Maria Cantwell, Amy Klobuchar, Chuck Schumer and Republicans John Boozman and Joni Ernst would provide news outlets emergency assistance beneath the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP).
Some smaller outlets qualified for PPP assistance in April. The new proposal would support thousands more that were excluded because their parent companies were too large.
A very similar effort to help local news outlets is part of a proposed $3 trillion relief bill introduced on Tuesday by Democrats in the US Property of Representatives. Senate Republicans do not support the large spending bill, but majorities in both houses possess signed letters urging more support for local mass media.
Since March, local newspapers have lost just as much as 50% of advertising revenue, as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) says some local broadcasters have reported just as much as a 90% loss in advertising revenues. This year, NAB estimates marketing losses for local Tv set and radio broadcasters will reach at least $3 billion.
NAB CEO Gordon Smith said found in a assertion, "hometown broadcasters and community newspapers are providing essential news and information of these unprecedented circumstances to hold families and communities safe, while struggling with record advertising income losses."
Thousands of local media personnel are having to have unpaid furloughs or fork out cuts. Some outlets happen to be lowering the frequency of printing. Others are closing.
Many current information organizations were hurting prior to the pandemic. Employment at US newsrooms fell 25% from 2008 to 2018, the Pew Research Center reported, a lack of 28,000 jobs, while 1,800 US newspapers have closed since 2004.
Previous month, four groups representing broadcasters and newspapers, like the NAB, asked lawmakers to aid up to $10 billion on government advertising and rewrite PPP rules.
"This legislation is indeed important because just like any other small company, usage of this federal funding is actually a essential lifeline for local media outlets that are sacrificing major advertising earnings and suffering huge personal losses," explained Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader.
Outlets under the Senate bill meet the criteria as long as their person physical locations have fewer than 1,000 staff members for newspapers and less than $41.5 million in gross receipts for broadcasters. The financing must go into making local news or emergency info and keep local reporters and those who support them utilized.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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