A task force that studied the decline of local journalism in Illinois outlined its findings and policy recommendations at the Capitol recently.

The policy ideas from the Illinois Local Journalism Task Force include tax credits for those who pay for local news subscriptions and for advertising in local media; payroll tax credits to incentivize media outlets to hire and retain journalists; and university-funded fellowship programs that pay early career reporters to work in local journalism.

Jason Piscia, director of the UIS Public Affairs Reporting program, was a member of the task force that included representatives from media, academia and government. The group met nearly a dozen times in 2023 to hear from experts and local journalists about the challenges and opportunities.

"All of the concepts in this final report are an important starting point to open a statewide conversation about the importance of local journalism and its crucial role in maintaining democracy," Piscia said. "I was especially interested in the ideas that encourage and allow more students to choose journalism as a profession and stick with it as a long-term career."

Research from Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative showed the number of newspapers in Illinois dropped by more than a third since 2005, putting the state in the top 10 for the most newspapers lost. During the same time period, journalism jobs at Illinois newspapers have declined 86%, which has curtailed the ability of surviving news outlets to adequately cover the news.

The report also noted four of Illinois’ 102 counties have no local source of news, and 33 rely on just a single source.

The task force was led by state Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, a former television journalist. Other members included Randy Eccles, general manager of NPR Illinois, representing the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council, and PAR graduate Jenna Dooley, news director of WNIJ, representing the Illinois News Broadcasters Association.

Stadelman said he plans to turn some of the policy recommendations into legislation that could be considered by the Illinois General Assembly.

Read the full task force report.

Read more coverage written by current PAR students Kellie Foy from Lee Enterprises and Alex Abbeduto from Capitol News Illinois.