Findings show San Franciscans are hungry for more local journalism, including investigative reporting and independent election coverage

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, California Common Cause published Mga Lokal na Boses Sa Lokal na Balita: Mga Pananaw ng Komunidad at Mga Rekomendasyon sa Patakaran para sa Pagpapalakas ng Ecosystem ng Pamamahayag ng San Francisco, a new report that uncovers what San Franciscans are saying about their news needs, includes perspectives from independent, locally-owned publishers, and explores public policy solutions that can close the civic information gaps among the city’s most marginalized residents.

Ang ulat, na kilala bilang pagtatasa ng pangangailangan ng impormasyon sa komunidad, ay nagdodokumento ng proseso ng pakikinig ng komunidad na ginawa ng California Common Cause sa loob ng limang buwan upang maunawaan ang lokal na tanawin ng balita ng San Francisco at ang mga pangangailangan ng impormasyon ng mga komunidad nito. Kasama sa proseso ng pakikinig ang mahigit 175 tao sa buong lungsod sa pamamagitan ng 12 focus group at 26 na panayam. 

“Local news is critical to our democracy, and San Franciscans are hungry for more,” said Maya Chupkov, report coauthor, San Francisco resident, and Media & Democracy Program Manager at California Common Cause. “Residents want good, honest news that is rooted in their community and covers the issues that matter to their everyday lives. While this report focuses on San Francisco, it aspires to be a model for other communities in the Bay Area region and beyond.”

The story of local news in San Francisco tracks with the larger narrative of local news across the country and the world: with the business model broken by the internet, saddled with debt, acquired and bled dry by hedge funds, newspapers have shuttered or lost nearly all of their reporters. The newspapers that remain produce significantly less original reporting, and the growth in digital and other startup outlets has not nearly kept pace with the loss. This has broadly led to a massive information gap across communities and a decline in civic engagement over time. 

While community listening is the main focus of the report, it also includes the voices of independent publishers who are members of the Bay Area Independent Community Media Coalition, a group led by California Common Cause to explore ways to work collectively to bolster the city’s local news ecosystem through cooperation and policy advocacy.

California Common Cause connects what the community is saying about information gaps with the report’s policy recommendations, which include: 

• Increasing city government advertising in community and ethnic media. This will require dedicated effort to streamlining the city’s processes to make them simpler for city staff and local publishers to navigate.
• Hiring a full-time liaison to streamline the city’s advertising processes. This will make working with ethnic and community journalism outlets on advertising initiatives more efficient and easier to navigate among city staff. It will also make advertising opportunities more accessible to local news providers. It also recommends that liaison develop a directory of community and ethnic journalism outlets. 
• Improving the city advertising process. Our research found that city staff have many of the same complaints about the system that publishers do. They too want to make the process easier and want to advertise in local outlets that better reach San Francisco’s marginalized communities.

California Common Cause, San Francisco State University, and members of the Bay Area Independent Community Media Coalition will be putting on a public event to share the findings of the report on March 13 at 6:30pm at 518 Valencia. More information about the event will be shared on California Common Causes’ social media channels. 

Basahin Mga Lokal na Boses Sa Lokal na Balita: Mga Pananaw ng Komunidad at Mga Rekomendasyon sa Patakaran para sa Pagpapalakas ng Ecosystem ng Pamamahayag ng San Francisco.