Students, educators and others gathered at a recent News Voices: New Jersey forum to talk about the Civic Info Bill — and what they need from local media.
Runaway consolidation has decimated news outlets across New Jersey, leaving many communities without any real coverage. That’s why Free Press Action Fund has been lobbying to pass the Civic Info Bill, which would allocate $100 million over five years to fund essential news-and-information projects and meet the needs of underserved communities.
Free Press Action Fund’s News Voices: New Jersey project just wrapped up its lightning tour of the state with community forums in Asbury Park and Tuckerton — the sixth and seventh events we held to gather grassroots feedback on the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, which would fund impactful reporting around the state.
North Jersey participants in the fifth in a series of Free Press Action Fund community forums hit all the notes of that old recipe for bridal beauty: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.
On June 1, the majority leaders of the New Jersey Legislature introduced a bill to create a groundbreaking fund to support public-interest news and information.
Two evenings before, 25 local news consumers gathered to describe in vivid detail why they think such a step is needed.
From the busy streets of Camden to the flat farmlands of Gloucester County to the tree-blessed avenues of Montclair, the message is consistent: New Jersey residents crave information that existing media outlets don’t provide.
