Innovation in Public Funding for Local Journalism: A Case Study of New Jersey’s 2018 Civic Information Bill

Abstract

This article explores an effort to direct state-level public funds toward journalism by using a national policy window combined with an intensive grass-roots effort. We use the lens of Kingdon’s policy process model to showcase dynamics that contribute to the media policymaking literature. The process and enactment of New Jersey’s 2018 Civic Information Consortium bill are analyzed using a combination of archival research and oral history, highlighting the efforts of policy entrepreneurs and knowledge-brokers, who served as key advocates for the bill’s passage. However, they faced strong oppositional political factors that dampened their efforts; specifically, a policy window narrowed by institutional pushback and the tradition of conservative opposition to public funding of media limited the ultimate outcome for the novel initiative. Looking at implications for policymaking and media, the results provide a framework for a new model of public funding for journalism, but the case study also highlights the headwinds facing these types of policy initiatives, at least in the current political climate.

Keywords:

• Local journalism
• public policy
• public funding of journalism
• case study
• archival research
• Kingdon

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mike Rispoli, News Voices Director for Free Press, for his vital insights and facilitating access to Free Press Action Fund’s archival documents. We would also like to thank Associate Director at the Center for Cooperative Media Joe Amditis, who made valuable edits.

Disclosure Statement

Two of the authors, Christopher Satullo and Sarah Stonbely, receive or received funding, either directly or indirectly, from three of the organizations involved in the case study presented here: Democracy Fund, Free Press Action, and The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Stonbely works at Montclair State University, one of the universities that participates in the Civic Information Consortium. Matthew Weber receives funding from the Democracy Fund.

Notes

1 The participant counts are based on numbers submitted to Free Press Action Fund (FPA) after each event by Chris Satullo, who was the consultant in charge of public engagement. Reports on the public forums were filed with FPA between March 2017 and September 2018. Satullo also wrote public blog posts about each event that were posted on Free Press’s website (e.g. Satullo 2017a).

2 The text of the bill may be found at https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/PL18/111_.PDF.