Woerner reaches out to help newspapers
You don’t want to read about Sandy Hook, but you should
The Front Page
Morning Update
Thursday, December 16, 2021
By Ken Tingley
Carrie Woerner is serving her fourth term in Albany representing the 113th Assembly District.
She represents Washington County and parts of Saratoga County. I wouldn’t be surprised if many people in her own district had not heard of her.
She is a bit of a vanilla milkshake - which may be refreshing in these turbulent times - who works hard on the small issues important to her local constituents and generally keeps her head down when it comes to politics. I can’t remember her ever being controversial.
She is also the rarest of breeds in Washington County - a Democrat who gets elected.
She got my attention recently when she teamed with Sen. Brad Hoylman to endorse a bill to help local newspapers. This has also been under discussion in Washington, but this should not be controversial or political.
Newspapers tend to offend Republicans and Democrats alike by telling the truth and holding both parties accountable.
Fewer and fewer people have been reading newspapers now for decades. The trend evolved from people in two-paycheck households who were just too busy to read. Now in the digital age, readers have opted for digital sources and social media to get their news. Along the way, newspaper revenue began a long steady decline with fewer and fewer businesses advertising, and classified disappearing entirely.
The result has been a steady reduction in newspaper staffing all across the country and less community coverage.
Hundreds of news organizations have closed, leaving “news deserts” in some parts of the country.
Woerner said she was first approached about the newspaper issue by Darren Johnson, the owner, publisher and Mr. Everything at the Greenwich Journal, to see if there was something she could do to help.
Hoylman’s proposed legislation includes a provision where newspaper subscribers would receive an annual tax credit for 80 percent of the subscription cost in the first year, and 50 percent in subsequent years, up to $250 a year. That would be good for loyal newspaper subscribers and might attract a few more new readers.
Local news organizations would also be eligible for business tax credits to hire journalists by getting a quarterly tax credit up to 50 percent of their salary for the first year of employment and 30 percent in subsequent years for up to five years.
In New York City, Mayor Bill DeBlasio tried something different. He signed an executive order in May 2019 requiring city agencies to direct at least half their budgets for digital and print advertising to community newspapers and websites.
It resulted in more than 220 news organizations receiving advertising from city agencies and departments totaling nearly $10 million in the program’s first year.
As numerous surveys report, these news sources are often communities’ most trusted sources of information.
I served as editor of one of these newspapers for over 20 years. The reporters and editors were local people trying to report the news honestly and fairly. That is still the case. The problem is they are doing it with far fewer resources.
Woerner has jumped on board with Hoylman’s effort.
“I feel like people need to know the importance of supporting local newspapers,” Woerner said. “When newspapers, trained journalists don’t cover board meetings, taxes go up. Who is covering what is going on at the school board or planning board?”
She said she has already noticed less of that type of reporting locally.
But this may be the most important thing.
“I hope we all can agree that communities are better off when they have a newspaper,” Woerner said.
Every citizen should think about the value of their community newspaper and who they can trust to get it right.
Unfortunately, news reporting is still being politicized nationally and that has trickled down to the local level.
It would be nice to see some of our local Republicans jump on board and acknowledge that watchdog journalists that hold our elected officials accountable are a good thing.
I’ll take it a step further. It is an essential thing.
We all need to agree on that. The future of our democracy may depend on it.
Promote book
When you are a first-time author, the most difficult thing is getting the word out. Four months after releasing “The Last American Editor,” I’m still finding many do not know about the book.
So if you are looking for a feel-good read during these turbulent times, you might might want to consider my collection of columns as a gift for the readers in your life. If you have already read it, I’d love to hear what you have to think with a short review on Amazon (just search my name) or Goodreads.com.
And if you haven’t given it a look yet, try reading one column a day. You won’t be sorry.
Sandy Hook
Tuesday was the ninth anniversary of the horrific Sandy Hook school shootings.
Just before the fourth anniversary of the shootings in 2017, I stumbled on the forensic police report from the crime scene. The resulting column was titled “You don’t want to read this” and it is also included in “The Last American Editor.”
But I feel strongly you should read it.
You should never forget what happened to those children that day.
And maybe more importantly, how almost nothing was done to prevent the next shooting.
When I did a stint on the P S Citizen Editorial Committee (or whatever it was called), I thought Carrie Woerner was about the brightest politician we ever interviewed. As I follow her press, she seems to never forget who "brung" her to the dance.
On the subject of people not reading newspapers, you are dead on. My two adult children receive no newspapers. One gets ALL their news from FOX and the other from nowhere (both with advanced degrees). When I was in high school our social studies teacher REQUIRED us to subscribe to the NY Herald Tribune which generated class discussion. I never missed Jimmy Breslin's column even if I skipped the real news. It started me on a life-long habit of starting the day with the newspaper.
I totally agree. God bless Warner. Write and thank her.