We can’t let COVID-19 take access to local information from us

We have been faced with more uncertainty and fear in recent weeks than in some ways our nation has ever known.

We are fighting an invisible enemy that by its very nature forces us to distance ourselves from our most important support networks, faith and family.

In this time of turmoil, the need for trusted, local sources of information is crucial.

Our residents need in-depth reporting on emergency planning and response at the local level, as well as updates on how state and national policy are impacting our region.

We need to hear the advice of local public health authorities and what our school, city and county officials are doing in these uncertain times.

We also need to hear about the good things that are going on right here at home, from the efforts to help those in need of heartwarming stories, like that of Shawn Cochran on today’s front page.

The Daily American Republic and newspapers across the country continue to send reporters out to gather this information and bring it to you in our print and online editions.

Newspapers around the country have continued to do this as some of our most important advertisers have shut their doors or cut hours, and stopped or drastically cut back on advertising.

Nationally, there has been up to a 50% decline in advertising revenue for newspapers in recent weeks, according to America’s Newspapers, an association of 1,500 newspapers with members from across the nation. It may not get better for several more weeks or months.

They, and we, are asking that Congress expand and clarify the Payroll Protection Program to ensure it covers all local newspapers and news broadcasters.

“While some of these outlets may be owned by large organizations, they must survive on their own. It’s only fair that they should be included in any expansion of the program. These loans will keep the newspaper employees — your neighbors — on their payrolls and help get the news to you in print as well as online,” Dean Ridings, CEO of America’s Newspapers, said in an editorial being shared across the country this weekend.

“Second, we are asking that the Trump Administration direct current federal government advertising funds to local news and media outlets. These public service and informative ads could be similar to the ones running right now about the U.S. Census. They could carry critical government information about data from the CDC, access to small business loans, medical resources for families and other important topics. We’re asking for a commitment that would be spent in an equitable manner across all local news providers,” Ridings said.

“We also believe that there should be an immediate relief package that is based on total newsroom employees. Some local news organizations won’t survive without some type of immediate grant or infusion that is tied to the organization’s employees who directly work in the newsroom.

“This is not a demand for an industry bailout by local news providers. Instead, these measures recognize that local news publishers are on the information front line of the coronavirus pandemic, providing a public service vital to keeping our communities safe, secure and sustained during this unprecedented public health crisis.”

Please contact the offices of your senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress and tell them you support expanding the Payroll Protection Program to include your local news source and that the federal government should use your local newspapers or news broadcast to convey important information through public service ads. And finally, let them know that a grant based on newsroom employees is critical at this time.

Visit www.usa.gov/elected-officials for their contact information. The 8th Congressional District is served by Jason Smith, 573-609-2996. Missouri U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley can be reached at www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-roy and www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley .

We have lost a lot already to COVID-19, but if we let access to local information be part of that, we will lose so much more.

The national media — newspapers and TV — has come under fire in recent years as Republicans and Democrats both claim bias; depending on the cable network you choose to watch or national newspaper website you read. But newspapers like the DAR are not The Washington Post, New York Times, Fox News, CNN or MSNBC. We are YOUR community newspaper.

A recent Twitter post stated, “We are not ‘the media’ that they want to fail — we are their local paper, friends and neighbors trying to keep them informed.”

Thank you for the support you have shown the DAR during its many years of operation, and please stay safe during these difficult times.

— Daily American Republic