A resolution designating April 2025 as "Preserving and Protecting Local News Month" and recognizing the importance and significance of local news.

This Senate Resolution aims to designate April 2025 as "Preserving and Protecting Local News Month" , emphasizing the critical role of local journalism in American democracy. It affirms that local news serves an essential function, recognizing it as a public good that contributes to informed citizenry, civic engagement, and the maintenance of healthy, vibrant communities. The resolution details a severe decline in the local news industry, noting the loss of over 3,200 local print outlets since 2005 and the closure of approximately 2.5 local print outlets weekly. This has led to the creation of "news deserts" in hundreds of counties, leaving millions of residents without local news coverage and allowing potential government corruption to go unchecked. Significant job losses, including a 57 percent drop in newspaper newsroom employment between 2008 and 2020, further underscore the crisis. The resolution also highlights financial challenges, such as steep declines in advertising revenue, and disparities affecting diverse communities, including Black, Native American, and Latino media outlets, as well as non-English speaking populations. It acknowledges the efforts of student journalists to fill reporting gaps and the exacerbated economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry. Ultimately, the resolution calls for a reimagining of the local news space, drawing parallels to the historical establishment of public broadcasting to ensure public interest reporting.