Minuteman Local News Consortium

Written By Sean Diamond

For years now, I have been personally concerned about the collapse of local news organizations. This is an issue of grave concern for anyone who supports accountable and transparent governments and a thriving democracy. It is an issue that is inherently difficult for government entities and funding to solve without creating the perception (or reality) of editorial conflicts of interest.

Nevertheless, I believe that we must try something (or many things) to protect and promote a free press and to restore robust professional (human-centered) journalism in Waltham and other cities and towns across Massachusetts. I believe the proposal I provide below fairly balances the need to ensure editorial independence and the need for funding that is not dependent upon multi-national corporations with political agendas that do not align with the best interests of Massachusetts. That said, I’m open to debate and constructive input about how to improve this proposal. For reference, I’ve also provided some other information about other organizations and proposals to save local journalism.

Update 9/22/2024: Since I initially developed the proposal below, I learned about a new organization called the Waltham News Alliance, which is in the process of establishing the Waltham Times local newspaper. I also had the opportunity to attend the Waltham Public Library’s board of trustees meeting in September as an interested member of the public, and — after the meeting formally adjourned — I was able to ask the trustees about their perspective on this proposal.

In the spirit of adapting my platform to constituent feedback and evolving with the needs of Waltham, I am modifying the initial proposal below to eliminate the obligation of the library itself or the library board to have a formal relationship with the news organization for funding eligibility (in order to further ensure editorial independence and insulate the library from any liability associated with the news organization’s coverage).

I am leaving the initial proposal below as worded originally for reference and transparency, but if elected I would propose a version that allows any entity in the municipality (e.g. the library, the news organization, the municipal government, or an unaffiliated non-profit) to certify that the municipality has independent news coverage that meets the minimum journalistic standards in criteria 2-7 below (likely with some modifications to the cost structure in 3). Then, the local public library would be eligible for the incremental funding without any need to have a formal association between the library and the news organization.

The Proposal

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts should provide initial endowment funding to create the Minuteman Local News Consortium as an independent non-profit organization based in Massachusetts with a mandate to provide on-going funding to local public libraries in Massachusetts who opt to hire Massachusetts residents to research, investigate, fact-check, and publish local news articles and content of interest that are relevant to the residents of the municipality where they are based or any surrounding municipalities where a local public library does not exist or the existing local public library has refused to or otherwise not qualified to participate in the Minuteman Local News Consortium.

Any local public library in Massachusetts would be qualified to participate in the Minuteman Local News Consortium as long as it:

  1. Establishes an independent editorial board of no fewer than 3 members appointed by the library’s board of directors who: (a) reside in a “Covered Municipality” (i.e. a municipality where news coverage is provided by the library’s news staff), (b) do not hold any form of elected office, employment in the criminal justice system, or government appointment or employment with the exception of being a member of the library’s board of directors or being employed in a non-management position of a public school or library, and (c) do not hold any officer position in any political party or committee. At least 2/3rds of the independent editorial board must be comprised of members who are not on the library’s board of directors.

  2. Employs at least 1 journalist plus at least 1 additional journalist per 10,000 library card holders in a Covered Municipality. Each journalist must be paid at least twice the minimum wage for at least 25 hours per week on average each year with at least 75 hours of paid leave each year. The journalists shall not be members of the independent editorial board but must otherwise be qualified to serve on the board.

  3. Makes digital articles and content available for free to all residents with a library card in the Covered Municipalities. Offers digital articles and content to residents in the Covered Municipalities that is free from advertisements (with the exception of a local classified section) for at no cost or at a subscription price of no more than $1 per week that can be cancelled at any time without penalty.

  4. Offers physically published content available in sufficient quantities to meet demand by residents in the Covered Municipalities for delivery, for loan at the public library, or for sale in local retail stores on at least a weekly basis, which is available at no cost or for purchase at no more than twice the actual cost to publish and distribute the materials.

  5. Avoids any form of targeted advertising, tracking, or internet cookies beyond those strictly necessary to collect payment and deliver articles, content, or physically published materials. In particular, avoids any form of targeted advertising, tracking, or internet cookies that would create any discernible record that could be used to associate individuals with the specific articles or content visited, viewed, or otherwise consumed.

  6. At least once per week, publishes articles, content, and official notices that provide residents with timely information about recent and upcoming official events, activities, votes, and decisions by elected officials, appointed boards, and government employees.

  7. At least two weeks before any election that includes municipal or state officials on the ballot in a Covered Municipality, publishes relevant professional, biographical, political, or platform information about all candidates on the ballot but avoids any form of editorial endorsement of or opposition to candidates for public office. Election coverage may include relevant quotes from candidates, candidate committees, political organizations, local community leaders, and members of the general public that express an endorsement or opposition as long as journalistic best practices are followed. Election coverage should to the extent practical include fact-checking of any statements or representations from candidates, candidate committees, political organizations, and local community leaders that are either obviously false, misleading, or are more likely to be false than true which may influence the results of the election.

For any local public library in Massachusetts that meets the qualifications above or demonstrates that it has made every reasonable effort to meet the qualifications above in a given calendar year, the Minuteman Local News Consortium organization shall be obliged to provide a grant of at least $200,000 and no less than $100,000 per 10,000 active library card holders in the Covered Municipalities. The local public library may at its discretion use that grant to continue supporting local news coverage or to fund local library operations, maintenance, or capital improvements. The local municipal government may not redirect those funds to any other purpose.

To the extent that the Minuteman Local News Consortium organization is able to remain fiscally solvent while doing so, the board of the consortium may also create and administer a 0% interest revolving loan fund for public libraries in Covered Municipalities to cover additional capital improvements to support library or local news operations.

Donations in any amount to the Minuteman Local News Consortium by individuals or corporations shall be tax deductible in Massachusetts. Furthermore, while filing personal state income taxes in Massachusetts each year, filers may opt-in to allocating $10 of the state budget in the following fiscal year to the endowment of the Minuteman Local News Consortium without impacting the income tax burden of the individual.

Additional Considerations:

  • As the result of a lawsuit between two local Waltham news outlets (local independent news organization Channel 781 News and the publicly funded Waltham Community Access Channel), I now recognize that it will be important to clarify that all reporting by the Minuteman News Consortium organizations about elections and official events/acts by the Covered Municipalities will upon publishing be free to share, reproduce, repost by any resident in the Covered Municipality or any organization that does not host the content behind a paywall/subscription fee and/or does not receive incremental advertising revenues based on views or visits to the location where the information is posted. Furthermore that one week after publishing, all Minuteman News Consortium news coverage about elections and official events/acts by the Covered Municipalities will be considered fully in the public domain as a public good and service.

Sean Diamond
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