Coronavirus Is Hammering the News Industry. Here’s How to Save It.

Tens of thousands of journalists are losing their jobs, newspaper chains are going under, and vulture capitalists are picking over the remains. We need a news bailout — but one that overhauls the existing corporate model and pushes the media to put the public before profits. Journalism needs more than just stimulus; it needs a major structural overhaul. And it requires permanent and public support.

Massive subsidies for local media could come in many forms. A new Works Progress Administration (WPA)–style program focused on jobs and infrastructure could return legions of unemployed journalists back to their beats and fund the build-out of necessary infrastructure such as municipal broadband networks and public media outlets. Devoting an average of $100 per US citizen to local media infrastructure would add up to more than $30 billion annually (similar to the public media budgets of many Western and Northern European countries and proportionate to US postal subsidies for newspapers in the 1800s). Existing public institutions, including libraries, universities, and public broadcasting stations, could also be harnessed to provide institutional support for local journalism. The news is a public good, and public goods require public investments. A noncommercial model — owned by and in service to the people — is journalism’s last, best hope.

[Victor Pickard is an associate professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.]