Local news isn’t a commodity — it’s a lifeline and California needs to invest

California is a state of dreamers, innovators and communities that thrive on information. Yet, as newsrooms across are forced to close their doors or cut staff - with expanding news deserts threatening the availability of localized coverage and hundreds of journalists suffering from layoffs on a yearly basis, our ability to hold power accountable, expose injustices and expand community networks is fading with them.

Since we launched CALÓ News in 2023, we’ve spent what valuable resources we have documenting the successes of L.A.’s Latino and immigrant communities, a necessary labor of storytelling that combats the hateful narrative being hurled at our neighbors. We’ve spent the last three years reporting on the struggles of immigrant families, the fight for affordable housing, the impact of climate change on our neighborhoods and the consequences of policies and ordinances enacted at all levels of government. 

With shrinking resources and growing challenges, your fellow newsrooms, composed of your neighbors, community members who dedicate their days to making crucial information available to the public, are demanding that the state of California do its part to invest in the public information services we provide.

The $35 million investment in local journalism currently under consideration by the California Legislature isn’t just a budget line item. It’s a lifeline for democracy itself.

The proposed funding would sustain and expand two proven programs: the California Local News Fellowship (CLNF) and the Propel Initiative.

The Legislature has made historic investments in local journalism before by supporting the CLNF, a program that, since its inception in 2023, has become the largest publicly funded journalism fellowship in the country. The program is administered by UC Berkeley Journalism and the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, in partnership with Latino Media Collaborative, American Community Media and California Black Media.

With state funding, over 70 full-time, early-career journalists are empowered to report on issues and communities often overlooked and undervalued by mainstream media. Expanding the fellowship through the Propel Initiative would create a fourth cohort of fellows and editors who can cover stories that have the greatest impact on underserved communities. 

Through CLNF, fellows produce over 100 stories weekly, reaching communities in 90% of California’s counties. At CALÓ News, we’ve seen firsthand how a CLNF fellow can transform local coverage. Our inaugural fellow, Michelle Zacarias, detailed the plight of Black and Brown Palm Springs residents as they fought for restitution decades later after a fire burned down their community. Her coverage earned her a SoCal Journalism Award. And our current fellow, Andrea Valadez, has worked arduously over the past year covering legislative action in Sacramento, profounding on the impact every assembly vote has on a majority Latino population.

Via the $35 million investment, California would also provide funds to the California Civic Media Fund, adding $10 million in state dollars to a $20 million match from Google to local newsrooms, ensuring that rural, urban and multilingual communities have access to trusted, independent journalism.

The call for this investment is backed by a historic coalition of over 20 organizations, including CALÓ News’ publisher Latino Media Collaborative, California Black Media, American Community Media and the News Media Alliance. These groups represent the diversity of California’s communities and the urgency of this moment.

In Sacramento, the effort is championed by Senator Ben Allen in the Senate and Assemblymembers Marc Berman and Buffy Wicks in the Assembly, with wider support from key leaders, including Senators Umberg, Blakespear, Smallwood-Cuevas, Padilla, and Stern.

Thirty-five million dollars is a fraction of the state’s budget, but its impact will be immeasurable.

California has always led the nation in innovation. Now, it’s time to lead in saving local news. The alternative is a future where communities are left in the dark, where power goes unchecked, and where the stories of everyday Californians go untold. It is one we cannot afford.

We urge the rest of our publicly elected lawmakers to support this investment in sustaining and growing healthy, informed communities. Our democracy depends on it.