During a media briefing on Tuesday, December 19th, Mayor Eric Adams reaffirmed his commitment to enhancing the representation of ethnic and community media in the coverage of his administration and his support for a state-level media diversity bill.
This commitment is part of Adams’ ongoing efforts to diversify media voices, recognizing their essential role in reaching New York’s diverse communities.
Mayor Adams addressed the issue of limited media representation at City Hall’s press room, also known as Room 9, and the press room, known as the”Shack,” at NYPD headquarters, where larger media outlets primarily occupy desks.
He acknowledged the challenge faced by many New Yorkers who rely on smaller, community-focused media for comprehensive information about city activities.
Adams stated his intention to change this by expanding access to these spaces to a wider range of media voices.
Ethnic and Community Media (ECM) outlets, representing a range of diverse groups, have advocated for increased representation in City Hall and NYPD headquarters.
Adams emphasized the need for a thorough analysis of the press space utilization within Room 9.
He said, “We’re going to do an analysis of how we are using space in the building for the press. We’re going to make a determination if those who have multiple seats, if they’re going to have to decide which one of them are going to have to give up one. We are going to have to open this place up to the ethnic and community media.”
Their goal is to establish a state-level law akin to New York City’s current legislation, focusing on enhancing ECM representation and addressing the issues of inequitable advertising and community disenfranchisement.
The coalition has expressed its objectives on its website, stating, “We are seeking a state law, equivalent to NYC Local Law 83, codified as a state law, so all communities will have access to important services, programs, and initiatives of state agencies across New York State.”
New York City has already taken steps in this direction by establishing an office in 2021 committed to directing at least 50% of its advertising budget to ECM outlets.
However, a September study released by the Center for Community Media (CCM) highlighted the existing disparities on the state level, revealing that in the last decade, less than 3% of such advertising spending was allocated to ECM by six state agencies with the largest advertising budgets.
Adams also voiced his support for the state-wide bill, being sponsored by State Senator Kevin Parker and Assemblyman Al Taylor, aiming to replicate the inclusivity of NYC’s Local Law 83 on a broader scale.
He said, “I’m gonna support that bill and I’m going to speak with both the assemblyman and the senator.”
Adams concluded by emphasizing his commitment to “level the playing field” in media representation.
(New York, New York) – September 18, 2023 – A ground-breaking report on the advertising practices of New York state agencies and departments released by the Center for Community Media (CCM) at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism uncovers conspicuous inequities in the advertising spending practices of at least six state agencies.
Commissioned for CCM’s Advertising Boost Initiative, the report titled ‘Community Blindspot: Study of NYS agency advertising practices reveals lack of transparency that leaves community media business sector and audience overlooked’ is the result of a year-long research project led by Professor Barbara Gray, Newmark J-School Associate Professor and Chief Librarian, with data analysis and visualization by Jennifer Cheng, CCM’s Research and Development Associate. It provides insights into the advertising spend of New York State agencies across the multitude of outlets that make up the state’s media ecosystem. Furthermore, the report provides recommendations for state agencies to reform their advertising practices in a way that is more transparent, equitable and reflective of the state’s rich diversity.
“In a state as diverse as ours, it is only right that state agencies distribute advertising funds to ensure fairness and support the economic viability of the media organizations that diligently serve these diverse communities. It is in New York’s best interest to strengthen their capacity to fulfill their vital role as the voice of the different communities, fostering informed and engaged citizens,” Mikhael Simmonds, CCM Executive Director, said.
New York State is home to a vibrant array of over 700 community media outlets, which not only comprise an essential segment of the state’s media fabric but also function as small businesses that are intertwined with the local economy. They often serve as the primary news sources for many communities.
Based on data received from a third of the agencies contacted about their advertising allocations, the researchers analyzed $216 million spent on 90 advertising campaigns covering various periods between 2015 and 2023. They found that the state’s community media received a meager 2.6%, about $5.6 million of the total $216 million spent on media buys over the decade.
In contrast, a total of 61.5%, equivalent to $133 million, was spent on traditional mainstream media. State agencies, meanwhile, collectively spent $42.4 million, constituting 20% of the total $216 million, on social media, tech and ad-serving/targeting companies. This amount represents nearly eight times the agency ad spending that community media received, according to the report.
“Given that community media makes up a significant portion of outlets in our ecosystem, for it to receive only 2.6% of the advertising dollars flowing around New York State confirms the vast disparities we’ve known existed for years,” said Darlie Gervais, Manager of the CCM Advertising Boost Initiative. “Our hope is this report opens a more vibrant discussion about community media’s vital role, extensive reach, community issue coverage, and trustworthiness among the diverse communities so our state can better sustain them through increased revenue.”
Findings from the report that support the insights:
The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance allocated zero of its $3.9 million in ad spending on community media.
The Office of Children and Family Services spent a paltry $17K of $2.2 million in ad dollars on community media.
The Gaming Commission, which has the largest advertising budget of the agencies surveyed, spent only $5.2 million, out of $201 million, on community media outlets.
The Department of Agriculture spent only $3,485, of $4.6 million, on media ad buys in community outlets.
The Board of Elections spent $199K, out of $4 million, on advertising in the sector.
The Department of Labor spent $144,000, out of $497K, on community media.
The report urges New York stakeholders to reduce these inequities in ad spending on community and ethnic media, and highlights the critical need for legal, administrative and structural reforms to address these disparities. Through transparency, equity and accountability in advertising distribution, New York State can bolster community media’s sustainability, nurture the region’s vibrant media ecosystems, and ensure that crucial campaign messaging from state agencies reach communities that are under-resourced, and underrepresented in traditional media.
“Community media is the last defense to news deserts,” Simmonds added. “Redirecting a portion of the state’s advertising budget to community media is more than just an expenditure; it’s an investment in the heartbeat of our communities. These local businesses thrive, underrepresented voices are amplified, and the civic fabric is strengthened when we make this crucial shift.”
###
About the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY
The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, founded in 2006, is a public graduate journalism school based in the heart of New York City’s media capital. With affordable tuition and extensive scholarship support, it prepares students from diverse economic, racial and cultural backgrounds to produce high-quality journalism. The school offers an M.A. in Journalism, M.A. in Engagement Journalism, and M.A. in Journalism – Bilingual Program (English/Spanish).
About the Center for Community Media at the Newmark J-School
The mission of CCM is to serve news organizations that provide essential local coverage for populations whose voices and issues are underrepresented in mainstream media. The Center serves as a hub of information, resources, and training aimed at increasing the sustainability of this news media sector.
This article was originally posted on November 28, 2023. Read the article the SIPA website at https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/news/saving-journalism
Anya Schiffrin is the director of the Technology, Media, and Communications specialization at Columbia SIPA. She prepared the following report on the recent Saving Journalism conference.
Using city advertisements to support local news — a policy put into place by then Mayor Bill de Blasio — has, over the last four fiscal years, funneled $67 million into New York City’s ethnic and community media, de Blasio said during a recent appearance at Columbia.
His remarks came at the third annual Saving Journalism conference, held at Columbia University’s Forum on November 3. The one-day event gathered donors, scholars, and practitioners to discuss policy interventions around the world that help support quality journalism. It was organized and sponsored by SIPA’s Technology, Media, and Communications specialization in partnership with the Centre for Media Technology and Democracy at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University and Columbia World Projects.
The need for funding for local news is a global problem, one that worsened in New York when many local businesses went out of business and stopped advertising in local news outlets.
“Any level of government has such extraordinary spending power and economic impact, but it’s rarely thought of as a tool for changing society in and of itself.”
— Bill de Blasio, former NYC mayor
The conference’s first panel discussed a New York City solution —the 2019 executive order, signed by de Blasio, that channeled local government advertising to support local news. The policy has been successful in New York largely due to the efforts of Jose Bayona, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media and Graciela Mochkofsky, the dean of the Newmark Journalism School at CUNY, both of whom have put enormous efforts into working with local news outlets and government agencies that place advertising.
“Political will is what made this happen,” Bayona said.
De Blasio explained how he embraced the idea when it was first proposed and spoke of the secondary efforts that government spending can have — especially in a place like New York, where the operating budget during his tenure was some $100 billion a year.
“Any level of government has such extraordinary spending power and economic impact, but it’s rarely thought of as a tool for changing society in and of itself,” de Blasio said. “We think of the government norm is you spend a whole bunch of money to procure a good or a service to serve people. And that’s good, that’s fine. And of course, we should do that with integrity, we should get the lowest bid whenever possible, all those things. But there’s a second level that is often missed, which is that the amount of money we’re talking about can have a seismic impact in other ways.”
Anya Schiffrin, who helped organize the conference, is the director of SIPA’s Technology, Media, and Communications specialization.
SIPA’s involvement in the policy discussion about using government advertising to support news dates to 2010, when a team of SIPA students worked with me on a Capstone report for the government of Bhutan about the risks of using government advertising to support news. The country’s monarch, King Jigme Khesar, wanted to support the media as part of Bhutan’s transition to democracy; the country had begun subsidizing local print outlets, many with low circulation. Our student team wrote up a 120-page report with case studies of successes and failures in Argentina, Canada, Colombia, India, South Africa, Sweden, and the UK, and made recommendations as to how to avoid common pitfalls. Two of our students flew to Bhutan to present their findings and the government of Bhutan changed their policies accordingly.
Since then we’ve kept discussing the risks of government advertising in conferences we’ve organized and in three volumes we’ve edited on the problem of media capture—about the risks of soft pressures end up influencing editorial processes.
However, in the United States the success of New York City’s efforts has encouraged other cities to follow suit, said panelist Steve Waldman, founder of the nonpartisan Rebuild Local News Coalition.
As New York’s policy has inspired other governments around the United States — including in Chicago, Connecticut, and California — we helped the Rebuild Local News Coalition and CUNY’s Advertising Boost Initiative, which recently launched a media toolkit for other cities that want to emulate New York’s success. Specifically, we contributed some insights based on our research of international cases. As part of the planning meeting in April 2023, we invited Australian professor Sally Young (who we had cited in our 2010 report) to come and update us on where things stand in her country. Jonathan Rose of Canada also came; it was exciting to finally meet in person the people we’d quoted in 2012.
“Part of the reason why this is such a popular idea is it doesn’t involve new spending. It’s just saying, you’re already spending this money, you already have an obligation to get the money out into the community, but it’s not being done in an equitable way or in a way that can really get down to community organizations”, said the Rebuild Local News Coalition’s Waldman.
This success of the New York City executive order is in large part due to the efforts of Mochkofsky and members of her CUNY team, who helped implement the executive order by working closely with local outlets, many of which had never received city advertising before and didn’t have relationships with the ad buyers who place the adverts. They set up an application process for news outlets and the program channeled funds to outlets, such as the Haitian Times, which had never received city advertising before. The measure helped the community outlets that cover local news vital to the city.
“I really, really want to urge people to spread the gospel of this idea and see where it can be achieved,” de Blasio said.
