Public Act 102-0569
 
SB0134 EnrolledLRB102 15340 JLS 20697 b


  
    AN ACT concerning journalism.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local

Journalism Task Force Act.
 
    Section 5. Establishment. The Local Journalism Task Force

is established to:

        (1) conduct a comprehensive, nonbinding study relative

    to communities underserved by local journalism in

    Illinois; and
        (2) review all aspects of local journalism including,

    but not limited to, the adequacy of press coverage of

    communities, the ratio of residents to media outlets, the

    history of local news in Illinois, print and digital

    business models for media outlets, the impact of social

    media on local news, strategies to improve local news

    access, and public policy solutions to improve the

    sustainability of local press business models and private

    and nonprofit solutions.

 
    Section 10. Membership. The Task Force shall consist of

the following 13 members:
one member of the House of

Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of

Representatives; one member of the House of Representatives 
appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of 
Representatives; one member of the Senate appointed by
the 
President of the Senate; one member of the Senate appointed by 
the Minority Leader of the Senate; one member appointed by the

Governor; one representative of the Medill School of

Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at

Northwestern University; one representative of the Public 
Affairs Reporting Program at the
University of
Illinois at 
Springfield; one representative of the School
of Journalism at 
Southern Illinois University Carbondale; one
representative of 
the Illinois Press Association; one representative of the

Illinois Broadcasters Association; one representative of the 
Illinois
Legislative Correspondents Association; one 
representative of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council; 
one representative of the Illinois News Broadcasters 
Association; one representative of the University of Illinois 
at Urbana-Champaign; and one representative of the
Illinois 
Municipal League. Appointments shall be made no later
than 30 
days following the effective date of this Act.

 
    Section 15. Meetings. The Task Force shall meet a minimum

of 5 times to review, study, and analyze existing literature 
as
well as quantitative and qualitative data on the status of

journalism in the State of Illinois.
 
    Section 20. Support.  The Department of Commerce and

Economic Opportunity shall provide administrative and other

support to the Task Force.

 
    Section 25. Findings and recommendations. The Task Force

shall submit its findings, along with its recommendations for

legislation, to the Governor and the General Assembly no later

than one year after the effective date of this Act.
  
 
    Section 30. Repeal. This Act is repealed 2 years after the

effective date of this Act.