$15 million campaign encourages consumers, businesses and brands to subscribe, donate, advertise
NEW YORK, June 9, 2020 – The Local Media Consortium and Local Media Association today announced the launch of a major ad campaign, “Support Local News,” in partnership with the Google News Initiative. Backed by $15 million in funding from Google, the campaign will raise awareness of the need and importance of funding newsrooms through subscriptions, donations and advertising.
As communities across the nation grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and the injustice related to the death of George Floyd, local media has been on the front lines to inform its readers. While these major stories with local ramifications have led to an increase in people reading, watching and listening to the news, advertising revenue has declined dramatically. This trend has hit local news organizations particularly hard following Covid-19 since most faced financial stress well before the pandemic. These dynamics have put these vital community services at risk. According to Poynter, more than 30 local newsrooms have closed since the pandemic began. A Pew study finds the majority of consumers (71%) think their news media outlets are doing well financially. The Support Local News campaign will highlight this paradox and encourage consumers, businesses and advertisers to support local media.
“At Google we value the role of local news in keeping our societies informed and connected with their communities,” said Richard Gingras, Vice President, News, Google. “We have long partnered with the LMA and LMC to enable a strong future for local news. At this crucial time, when the demand for local journalism is especially great and advertising dollars have dwindled, we have joined with the LMA and LMC on this campaign in an effort to encourage everyone - readers, local businesses and advertisers big and small - to play a part in supporting local news.”
The Support Local News campaign will begin today and will run in print and digital formats for the next six weeks across most local newspapers, TV and radio stations and online-only news outlets in the U.S. and Canada. The campaign will direct people to visit the Support Local News website, where they can easily subscribe, advertise or donate — including an option to donate to a fund that supports local investigative reporting in newsrooms across North America or to further designate contributions for publishers of color to support their investigative work.
“At a time when communities need local media more than ever, we are launching this campaign to fuel long-term, sustainable revenue models for news,” said Fran Wills, CEO of LMC. “For years we have been encouraging the industry and our partners to spotlight the need for and value of local journalism. Thanks to this generous funding from Google, our campaign funnels much needed advertising dollars to publishers immediately while raising awareness of the role subscriptions, advertising and donations play in sustaining freedom of the press and reporting in our local communities.”
“This is a significant moment for the local media industry,” said Nancy Lane, CEO of LMA. “People may not understand why they need to support local news organizations with digital subscriptions, donations, memberships and advertising if applicable. This $15 million ad campaign will help us change the conversation. We appreciate Google’s support of local media with this campaign that intentionally includes a diverse mix of publishers, including smaller outlets and those serving underrepresented audiences. We ask other national advertisers to follow this example by running campaigns with local media organizations across North America.”
Local Media Association and the Local Media Consortium together represent more than 5,000 news outlets in the U.S. and Canada. The LMC delivers significant ROI to its members – 90 media companies comprising more than 4,000 outlets – by harnessing its purchasing power to negotiate large money-saving deals with digital business and technology partners. Recently, the LMC worked with the Brand Safety Institute and Cunningham Consulting to fast-track a local news advertising whitelist to unblock local media ad inventory with agencies and advertisers during the coronavirus pandemic.
LMA is focused on reinventing business models for news and works with more than 3,000 newspapers, TV stations, digital news sites, radio stations and research & development partners. In May, the association's affiliate, Local Media Foundation, launched the COVID-19 Local News Fund program, which has already raised more than $1.4 million for independent and family-owned news organizations to increase their coverage of the crisis in communities all over the country.
About the Local Media Consortium
The Local Media Consortium delivers economic value through strategic partnerships on behalf of nearly 90 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 4,000 outlets. The LMC delivers over $50M in annual financial benefit to its members by harnessing their combined volume and scale to reduce costs and increase revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Facebook, Monster and others. According to ComScore, the aggregated LMC audience footprint spans 212 million monthly unique visitors and reaches 80% of the U.S. online audience. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com/.
About Local Media Association
Local Media Association (https://www.localmedia.org/) is a thriving and innovative organization that is intensely focused on discovering new and sustainable business models that will support local news. LMA's innovation engine, Accelerate Local, launched six initiatives in 2019 with 50 different media partners including a digital transformation lab for black publishers. Three new projects have been launched so far in 2020, including the COVID-19 local news fund, and two news collaboratives - the Oklahoma Media Center and a yet-to-be-named effort in Chicago. Local Media Foundation is the association's 501(c)(3) charitable trust that supports the essential role of local news and information in a healthy democracy.
About The Google News Initiative (GNI)
The Google News Initiative represents Google's effort to help journalism thrive in the digital age. Through its partnerships, programs and products, the Google News Initiative works with thousands of organizations worldwide to support quality independent journalism, financial sustainability, and development of new technologies that drive innovation. Google allocated $300 million over three years to energize these collaborations, and to lay the foundation for new products and programs for a diverse set of news publishers, to benefit the entire ecosystem. Learn more at g.co/newsinitiative
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