Speaker Robert Rivas, Senate Leader Monique Limón, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, and Sen. John Laird: By continuing to ignore our ethnic and local newsrooms, you are effectively saying that you can govern a state without communicating with the people who elected you.
That’s exactly what’s at stake without the modest $35 million investment earmarked for two programs that support news outlets serving immigrants and communities of color: the Propel Initiative and the California Local News Fellowship.
These programs are not subsidies for an industry in trouble. They are investments in sustaining California’s vital and vibrant information infrastructure — one that ensures that all our diverse communities have visibility and a voice in the public square…