LA County Considers Ad-Dollar ‘Lifeline’ For Struggling Local Newsrooms

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to study the feasibility of increasing advertising and public outreach efforts through local, ethnic and community media outlets in an effort to better communicate with the county's diverse residents, while also supporting smaller journalism organizations.

"Effective government communication requires more than producing information. It requires reaching residents through the sources they trust, in the languages they understand and in the communities where they live," according to a motion introduced by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn. "Strengthening coordination with local, ethnic, community and hyperlocal media organizations can help the county better reach residents who may not be effectively served through traditional government communications channels," they added.

According to the motion, New York City adopted a policy five years ago requiring that at least 50% of its advertising funds go to community and ethnic media. The decision followed an analysis that found most of that city's advertising money was spend on larger, mainstream outlets. Only 4% of the funds were spent on Spanish-language publications, despite Latinos representing nearly 30% of the city's population, according to the analysis.

"Los Angeles County has an opportunity to consider whether a similar structure could work here," the motion states. "With more than 10 million residents across 88 cities and unincorporated areas, the county must communicate with residents across a vast and diverse geographic area. County departments regularly communicate with residents about health care, public benefits, housing, immigration services, public safety, disaster response and other essential services.

"Local, ethnic, community and hyperlocal media can play an important role in ensuring this information reaches residents who rely on neighborhood- based and multilingual sources. A countywide framework could provide departments with a more coordinated way to identify and engage these outlets while improving the county's ability to understand how its communications and advertising resources are being used. It could also help ensure that public information reaches the communities it is intended to serve," the motion adds.

The motion calls for the county CEO to report back in 120 days on the feasibility of creating a framework for increasing advertising and outreach funding through localized media outlets.

Solis said local and ethnic media are critical to providing crucial information to specific neighborhoods.

"They report in the languages residents speak, cover the neighborhoods they know and bring attention to issues that might otherwise go unreported," she said in a statement after the vote.

She and Hahn also noted in their motion that 12,000 local journalism jobs have been lost in the state since 2002 due to continued struggles in the industry.

"When we're trying to get the word out about county programs and services, we should be advertising with the local media outlets and small papers our residents already depend on and trust," Hahn said. "It would help our departments better reach the communities that need them most — and the advertising dollars would be a lifeline for small newsrooms that are hanging by a thread. This would be a win for local journalism, a win for our communities, and a win for the county."

City News Service